RaGE Systems SofTransceiver SATCOM SoC (RS4)

Technological advancements in SATCOM are driven by higher Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) integration, particularly when coupled with Central Processing Units (CPU) and Digital Signal Processors (DSP). This integration extends from macro to micro levels, enabling synergies with emerging technologies like IoT and Edge Computing. Modern SATCOM Software Defined Radios (SDR), exemplified by the State Of the Practice (SOTP), vary in design, but often include solutions such as COTS Transceivers paired with FPGA or ultra-low power SoCs. System-on-Module (SOM) providers take the COTS devices and provide module level optimization of those COTS components, with a goal of minimizing size while maintaining functionality. The overall challenge includes balancing performance, flexibility, and Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWAP-C), which always favors a custom IC. Projects like University of Massachusetts, Lowell's SPACE HAUC demonstrate high data-rate communication using these COTS components, but at considerable SWAP-C expense. Together RaGE Systems and UMass, Lowell propose a monolithic RF System-on-Chip (SoC) SDR IC for SATCOM, porting RaGE Systems SofTransceiver design to an on-shore/Trusted advanced CMOS node and integrating computing and digital back-end resources, leveraging UMass, Lowell’s Space experience, to achieve solicitation objectives.