Miniature GPS Receiver to Support Operationally Responsive Space Missions

Intrinsix proposes a low power, high-integration, radiation hardened software defined Global Positioning System (GPS) single chip solution. The phase I SBIR contract proposes two major components. First the proposed GPS receiver is a heterodyne Radio Frequency Sigma Delta Modulator (RF-SDM) that significantly improves performance over other integrated solutions by absorbing mixers and high selectivity filters into a specialized Analog to Digital Convertor (ADC). Second Intrinsix proposes the development of a flexible digital platform using the NASA Navigator GPS as a baseline. The phase I SBIR contract will focus on the validation of the RF architecture, architecting an extendable digital platform for signal processing and the methodology for radiation-hardening by design in a modern commercial sub-100nm process technology. BENEFIT: For space applications single chip rad-hard GPS solutions do not exist. This development will provide Size, Weight and Power characteristics that are adequate for cube-sat and nano-sat applications with flexibility and programmability to adapt to new processing requirements. Other military radio applications that demand low power, high dynamic range and jamming resistance can also benefit by the architecture of the RF-to-bits portion of the receiver. Finally, there are many consumer applications of the RF-to-bits processing subsystem proposed ranging from lower cost terrestrial GPS solutions, to low cost mobile TV and Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) applications for example.