Feasibility study of a novel class of plasma antennas for SatCom navigation systems

Carlo, Paola De; Magarotto, Mirko; Mansutti, Giulia; Selmo, A.; Capobianco, Antonio-Daniele; Pavarin, Daniele

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.10.015

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…10 where the obtained RCS is depicted. Specifically, n e = 7.3 × 10 18 m −3 is required for the "on" state, which is a value fully compatible with the technology at the state-ofthe-art [5], [9]. Provided that neutral pressure is higher with respect to the cases analysed in previous sections (i.e., higher losses might occur within plasma [6]), the RCS computed assuming ν = 0 has been depicted in Fig.…”

Section: Irs -Digital Elementsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This feature reduces the mutual interference between antennas stacked into arrays [4]. Moreover, the capability to electrically "disappear" is very appealing if stealth is required [5]. Second, the figures of merit of a GPA (e.g., operation frequency and radiation pattern) can be reconfigured by controlling the electric power used to sustain the plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

et al. 2022

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Gaseous Plasma Antennas are devices in which an ionized gas (i.e., plasma) is exploited to transmit and receive Electro-Magnetic waves. Their main advantage over metallic systems is the possibility to reconfigure the antenna performance (e.g., radiation pattern) by electronically varying the plasma parameters (e.g., density). Recently, Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRSs) have been proposed to control the environment between transmitting and receiving antennas manipulating the signals reflected. In this work, the feasibility of a plasma-based IRS is investigated. A theoretical model has been developed to assess the use of plasma as a reflecting medium. Numerical simulations have been performed to preliminary design plasma-based IRSs. Two designs of IRSs, relying on plasma properties consistent with the technology at the state-of-the-art, are proposed. The former enables beam steering operations depending on the continuous control of the phase of the reflected wave. The latter exploits a 1-Bit coding strategy to produce specific diffraction patterns. The main advantage of a plasma-based IRS with respect to the metallic counterpart is the possibility to control the phase of the reflected wave, maintaining the magnitude of the reflection coefficient close to the unit. The main drawback of plasma-based systems is the necessity of using thick plasma elements (in the order of the wavelength in the air) to control the phase of the reflected wave over 360 deg. This constraint can be relaxed if digital plasma elements are adopted.

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Section: Irs -Digital Elementsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

et al. 2022

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“…Moreover, the selection of COTS can be tailored to different customers' needs by means of a dedicated risk analysis. The electronics rely on a flexible architecture and they have been designed for operating REG-ULUS with an input power from 30 up to 60 W, although the nominal value is 50 W. Moreover, a simplified laboratory version of the electronics subsystem has been used in a completely different application field, namely plasma antennas [45][46][47][48]. The schematic of the electronics of REGULUS is depicted in Fig.…”

Section: Electronicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and In-orbit Demonstration of REGULUS, an Iodine electric propulsion system

et al. 2021

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REGULUS is an Iodine-based electric propulsion system. It has been designed and manufactured at the Italian company Technology for Propulsion and Innovation SpA (T4i). REGULUS integrates the Magnetically Enhanced Plasma Thruster (MEPT) and its subsystems, namely electronics, fluidic, and thermo-structural in a volume of 1.5 U. The mass envelope is 2.5 kg, including propellant. REGULUS targets CubeSat platforms larger than 6 U and CubeSat carriers. A thrust T = 0.60 mN and a specific impulse Isp = 600 s are achieved with an input power of P = 50 W; the nominal total impulse is Itot = 3000 Ns. REGULUS has been integrated on-board of the UniSat-7 satellite and its In-orbit Demonstration (IoD) is currently ongoing. The principal topics addressed in this work are: (i) design of REGULUS, (ii) comparison of the propulsive performance obtained operating the MEPT with different propellants, namely Xenon and Iodine, (iii) qualification and acceptance tests, (iv) plume analysis, (v) the IoD.

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“…Namely, the radar cross-section of a GPA can be drastically reduced if the electric power to sustain the plasma is turned off and, thus, the main conductive medium fades [3]. This feature is appealing to minimize the mutual interference between several GPAs stacked into an array [4] or if stealth is required [5]. Second, the plasma properties that drive the antenna performance (e.g., density) can be controlled by varying the electric power coupled to the plasma [6], [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma-Based Reflective Surface for Polarization Conversion

Magarotto

Schenato

Carlo

et al. 2023

IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat.

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This study analyses, for the first time, the use of reflective surfaces based on magnetized plasmas for polarisation conversion. The feasibility of this concept has been assessed via a theoretical model. Moreover, the numerical design of a plasma-based reflective surface is presented. The latter enables linear-to-linear and linear-to-circular polarisation conversion over a broad frequency range, from 7.5 GHz to 13 GHz. To this end, the applied magnetic field intensity has to be tunable over 55-140 mT, and its direction steerable towards three mutual orthogonal axes. At the same time, the plasma density has to be controlled up to 2 × 10 18 m −3 . These requirements are consistent with the plasma technology at the state-of-the-art.

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Feasibility study of a novel class of plasma antennas for SatCom navigation systems

Cited by 25 publications

References 23 publications

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

Feasibility of a Plasma-Based Intelligent Reflective Surface

Design and In-orbit Demonstration of REGULUS, an Iodine electric propulsion system

Plasma-Based Reflective Surface for Polarization Conversion

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