MONOLITHIC GAAS UHF IF SWITCH MATRIX FOR SPACE STATION APPLICATIONS

THE SPACE STATION MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE THE PRIMARY TELEMETRY, VOICE, AND VIDEO LINK BETWEEN CREW MEMBERS AND EXTRAVEHICULAR ASTRONAUTS. THE HEART OF THIS SYSTEM, WHICH IS BASED ON A FREQUENCY DIVISIONMULTIPLE ACCESS (FDMA) SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WITH MULTIPLE DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS ON BOTH THE SPACE STATION AND THE ASTRONAUT(S), IS THE INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY (IF) SWITCH MATRIX WHICH DYNAMICALLY ROUTES MULTIPLE WIDEBAND SIGNALS TO THE INTENDED DESTINATION. IN PROGRAM PHASE I, MICROWAVE MONOLITHICS INCORPORATED (MMINC.) PROPOSES TO DESIGN A SPACE QUALIFIABLE 4 X 8 (OR TBD SIZE) MONOLITHIC GAAS SWITCH MATRIX, ITS CONTROL INTERFACE, AND AN INTEGRAL HERMETIC PACKAGE TO SATISFY THIS DEMANDING REQUIREMENT. THE FULL SCALE PROTOTYPE UHF IF SWITCH MATRIX WOULD THEN BE FABRICATED, CHARACTERIZED, AND DELIVERED TO NASA IN PROGRAM PHASE II. THIS RELIABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE MATRIX WILL BE SMALLER, LIGHTER, AND CONSUME LESS PRIME POWER THAN ALL CURRENTLY ENVISIONED ALTERNATIVES. THESE ARE REALISTIC GOALS WITHIN THE TIME AND BUDGET CONSTRAINTS OF THE SBIR PROGRAM ONLY DUE TO MMINC.'S EXTENSIVE AND ON-GOING EXPERIENCE BASE CONCERNING MONOLITHIC SWITCH MATRIX DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION.