An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing
Recent developments in high-performance Software Defined Radios (SDRs) and their utilization in CubeSat payloads are transforming Earth Observation (EO), including Microwave Radiometers, Global Navigation and Satellite System – Radio Occultations (GNSS-RO), and – Reflectometry...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Shah Zahid Khan Yasir M. O. Abbas Edwar Edwar Abdul-Halim Jallad Adriano Camps |
| author_facet | Shah Zahid Khan Yasir M. O. Abbas Edwar Edwar Abdul-Halim Jallad Adriano Camps |
| author_sort | Shah Zahid Khan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent developments in high-performance Software Defined Radios (SDRs) and their utilization in CubeSat payloads are transforming Earth Observation (EO), including Microwave Radiometers, Global Navigation and Satellite System – Radio Occultations (GNSS-RO), and – Reflectometry (GNSS-R). In recent years, GNSS-R has been increasingly used in land and marine environmental monitoring, with applications expanding to other emerging fields in EO. The so called Delay Doppler Map (DDM) is the primary observable of GNSS-R receivers, providing information on surface properties, i.e. dielectric constant and surface roughness. Efficient on-board processing is essential in CubeSat-based GNSS-R missions, due to the large volume of raw data and the constraints of limited downlink bandwidth. However, limited on-board computational resources present challenges, as DDM generation requires intensive Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operations. This study presents the design and development of a cost-effective and compact 0.5U GNSS-R CubeSat payload that optimizes the GNSS-R data processing technique by using the auxiliary data from the reference signals, such as Pseudo-Random Noise (PRN) codes, and their Doppler frequencies in order to reduce the search space. This way the payload selectively processes the raw data, significantly reducing the computational load. The payload processing unit is implemented in Analog Devices ADRV9364 with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a Zynq-7000 Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-22f8fb9aa0594de1a795120edb2f2b2f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
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| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj-art-22f8fb9aa0594de1a795120edb2f2b2f2025-08-20T03:07:28ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113560455605210.1109/ACCESS.2025.354635810906500An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard ProcessingShah Zahid Khan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9674-9694Yasir M. O. Abbas1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8289-9248Edwar Edwar2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1535-7988Abdul-Halim Jallad3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1874-7722Adriano Camps4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9514-4992Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Electrical and Communication Engineering, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Electrical and Communication Engineering, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Electrical and Communication Engineering, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Signal Theory and Communications, CommsSensLab-UPC, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, SpainRecent developments in high-performance Software Defined Radios (SDRs) and their utilization in CubeSat payloads are transforming Earth Observation (EO), including Microwave Radiometers, Global Navigation and Satellite System – Radio Occultations (GNSS-RO), and – Reflectometry (GNSS-R). In recent years, GNSS-R has been increasingly used in land and marine environmental monitoring, with applications expanding to other emerging fields in EO. The so called Delay Doppler Map (DDM) is the primary observable of GNSS-R receivers, providing information on surface properties, i.e. dielectric constant and surface roughness. Efficient on-board processing is essential in CubeSat-based GNSS-R missions, due to the large volume of raw data and the constraints of limited downlink bandwidth. However, limited on-board computational resources present challenges, as DDM generation requires intensive Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operations. This study presents the design and development of a cost-effective and compact 0.5U GNSS-R CubeSat payload that optimizes the GNSS-R data processing technique by using the auxiliary data from the reference signals, such as Pseudo-Random Noise (PRN) codes, and their Doppler frequencies in order to reduce the search space. This way the payload selectively processes the raw data, significantly reducing the computational load. The payload processing unit is implemented in Analog Devices ADRV9364 with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a Zynq-7000 Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10906500/CubeSatsdelay Doppler map (DDM)GNSS-Rinterferometryoptimizationreflectometry |
| spellingShingle | Shah Zahid Khan Yasir M. O. Abbas Edwar Edwar Abdul-Halim Jallad Adriano Camps An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing IEEE Access CubeSats delay Doppler map (DDM) GNSS-R interferometry optimization reflectometry |
| title | An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing |
| title_full | An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing |
| title_fullStr | An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing |
| title_full_unstemmed | An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing |
| title_short | An SDR-Based GNSS-R CubeSat Payload: Hardware Development and Optimization of the Onboard Processing |
| title_sort | sdr based gnss r cubesat payload hardware development and optimization of the onboard processing |
| topic | CubeSats delay Doppler map (DDM) GNSS-R interferometry optimization reflectometry |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10906500/ |
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