Miniature Low-Cost Bandwidth Efficient Advanced Modulation (BEAM) Transceiver for Small Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

In this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project, Efficient Channel Coding (ECC) will validate Hi-BEAM (Highly Integrated Bandwidth Efficient Advanced Modulation), our novel, miniature, low power, and low-cost Bandwidth Efficient AdvancedModulation (BEAM) transceiver designed for integration in Small Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In addition to exploiting Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) implementation methods, ECC's approach also exploits link power control.The current BEAM implementation in an ARC-210 radio uses multiple devices to enable the maximum flexibility. ECC asserts that most of the transceiver can be implemented in a custom Hi-BEAM ASIC. This level of integration has dramatic size and powerconsumption reductions. It is expected that Hi-BEAM ASIC will consume less than 2W of DC power. Thus, with the Hi-BEAM ASIC, the overall Hi-BEAM transceiver can be implemented in a small form factor (less than 50 in2), allowing for flexibility in mountingand integration with the small UA. ECC estimates the Hi-BEAM transceiver will use less than 25 watts of DC power while transmitting at 10 watts.The products developed under this project have a wide range of applications in UAV networks, and low-cost satellite terminals for a range of monitoring, tracking, and control applications.