DESIGN OF AN EXPENDABLE GPS TRANSPONDER SYSTEM

REDUCTION OF GPS TRANSPONDER VOLUME, WEIGHT, POWER CONSUMPTION AND COST IS NECESSARY TO STIMULATE A BROAD RANGE OF APPLICATIONS. THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES OF A 10 CUBIC INCH VOLUME AND A $300 UNIT COST ARE ONLY REALIZABLE IF THE COMPONENT COUNT CAN BE MINIMIZED. THE MONOLITHIC CO-INTEGRATION OF THIN FILM RESONATOR (TFR) FILTER FUNCTIONS WITH THE GPS TRANSPONDER ICS WILL YIELD THIS RESULT. A GPS TRANSPONDER DEMONSTRATION MODULE WILL BE DESIGNED AND FABRICATED TO VERIFY THE FEASIBILITY OF A 10 CUBIC INCH VOLUME IN PHASE I. A WORKING MODEL OF THE GPS TRANSPONDER THAT FITS INTO AN ARTILLERY ROUND FUZE CONFIGURATION WILL BE DESIGNED, FABRICATED AND TESTED IN PHASE II. THIS CONFIGURATION WILL UTILIZE SMT TECHNOLOGY AND WILL BE DESIGNED TO SURVIVE THE FIRING SHOCK OF 30,000 G'S.