An Overview of Software-Defined Radio Technology in CubeSat Communications

Abstract

Small satellites are becoming more popular because they are cost-effective, easy to assemble, and use commercially available parts. However, traditional ground stations that communicate with small satellites require a lot of hardware and are expensive to build. This makes it challenging to get the most out of small satellites' information. Software Defined Radios (SDRs) have been developed to reduce the cost of these ground stations by doing many of the tasks in software. Many universities and organizations are developing SDR ground stations to communicate with satellites in different orbits. Communication with satellites is critical to their development and operation. This paper proposes a ground station that uses SDR technology to communicate with one or more small satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The station is cost-effective, portable, and easily scaled, allowing it to acquire data from satellites.