Micro Satellite Terminal-Based High Data Rate Communication for Rotary Wing Aircraft

This paper describes applications of micro satellite communication terminals with size, mass, and power suitable for small aircraft, based on Scrambled Code Multiple Access (SCMA) waveform, and enhancements that supports uninterrupted communication through intermittent blockages by rotary wings. Smaller antennas have wider beams and require transmit power to be reduced for avoiding adjacent satellite interference. SCMA, with very low-rate coding, allows the use of lower power even with smaller antenna. Utilizing very low-rate coding and a family of multiple access techniques facilitates the use of cost-effective Ku and Ka band satellite. SCMA-based micro terminals have earlier been used in over-the-air COTM demonstrations for command and control terrestrial scenarios. Recently, SCMA waveforms have been enhanced to support high data rates (> 10 Mbps) and to provide additional capability for dealing with intermittent blockages. This enables the use of SCMA for satellite communication on rotary wing aircraft that create repetitive blockages for transmit and receive signals. The paper also describes waveform enhancements for higher data rates and summarizes test results from over-the-air rotary wing demonstrations.