Next Gen GMSK/PN Ranging Infused High-Rate Ka-Band Flight Transceiver

We aim to investigate and infuse the Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK)- Pseudo-Noise (PN) code ranging capability into newly developed code567 Next-Gen Ka-Band transceiver. This integration will provide NASA's future lunar missions with the ability to obtain precise distance measurements in noisy and challenging environments. Additionally, the readily available Ka-Band transceiver prototype offers a cost-effective solution for the integration.

Integrating PN ranging with the Next-Gen Ka-Band Transceiver offers several benefits:

1. Robustness: PN-ranging is a robust technique that can work in noisy environments, making it suitable for use in lunar missions, where the signal-to-noise ratio can be very low due to the harsh and noisy lunar environment. The integration enables real-time performance testing and simulation for such environments during development.
2. Precision: PN-ranging provides high precision measurements of distance, which is critical for many lunar applications. Different optimization techniques such as "canceling" can be implemented and tested on prototype hardware for better precision testing.
3. Flexibility: PN-ranging can be used in a variety of applications, including measuring the distance between a lander and an orbiting spacecraft or between two lunar surface assets. The portability of the Next-Gen Ka-band transceiver environment enables the developed prototype to be integrated into a variety of instruments.
4. Cost-effectiveness: The implementation of PN-ranging on a readily available Ka-transceiver saves time and overall hardware development cost.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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