Our Aerospace System Manufacturing Partners

The Antenna Control Units (ACU) are based on a Linux operating system in an Open Source environment. The UI is an ergonomic amalgamation of analog, digital and control buttons. The combination of operating system and programming languages are well matched to the selected platform, making this a very efficient processing entity. The processing bandwidth of the ACU far exceeds the most stringent antenna/pedestal system requirements.We also supply a relational database to aid the operator with fast setup of previously run missions.  The tracking demodulation is FPGA based and supports a variety of manual or electronic scan modulations. This demodulator allows for full control/calibration of all receiver AM signals (up to 16 independent receiver input) via the software tools/menus. We can either generate the lobing signals used for SCM feeds or accept the “top-dead-center” synchronization signal from a Conical Scanner feed. The result is a high bandwidth tracking response which is not limited by the demodulator.  Remote control and multiple remote viewing instances of the Local ACU are standard features of all our ACUs. The administrative user has the capability of managing the remote viewing and control of any Local ACUs.  The ACUs accept slave data from multiple interfaces, and supports inter-ACU communication on the same network. This allows for antennas to slave to the system with the best tracking opportunity.  Various ACU systems are available, including pointers, RF trackers, video trackers, … The CDSI ACU has been adapted to many manufacturer's pedestals and controllers. The ACU can either completely replace any type of pedestal controller or connect to existing controller via Ethernet and provide an updated homogeneous system.

The next generation of DBF antenna technology has extended the RF coverage of the antenna from S-band to L/S/C telemetry bands simultaneously. Utilising a tri-band array to demonstrate the first implementation of a new architecture that is called Universal Beamforming Technology (UBT), which can be applied to a wide variety of DBF applications, including communications, radar and telemetry. Partnering with an antenna element provider to demonstrate the following proof-of-concept hardware for a US Government customer:      

RF operation 1 – 6 GHz      

Scan extent: +/- 90 deg Azimuth and Elevation (with roll-off)      

Target acquisition/tracking at <<13 dB EbN0 (the practical limit for zero BER)      

Tracking rates > 100 deg./sec.      

16 simultaneous dual-polarized beams      

Error-free bit rates up to 30 Mbps from a flying source (hardware supports 120Mbps)      

Optimal (pre-detection) combination      

Multipath mitigation due to novel processing approach 

CDSI principals have designed, fabricated, integrated, tested, installed and supported Telemetry systems of various kinds for several customers throughout the world.  We are often contacted to upgrade existing systems even though they might have been produced by other vendors.  We use CDSI Antenna Control Units (ACUs) with the systems we deliver – whether they are complete products or refurbishment efforts. We fabricate our own feeds, as needed, while our reflectors and positioners are supplied by local suppliers.  The remaining components are supplied by vendors that we have used in the past, and are well-known to us.   Our systems use Open Source software (Linux) and FPGA-based hardware for a tight connection between operator and hardware.   We test our Telemetry systems using our Telemetry Environment Simulator (TES) product.  It is a system level tool that was designed to allow fully integrated, mechanically positioned Telemetry systems. The TES records the system response to standard as well as custom target scenarios (e.g. overhead pass, close-range launch) and allows the test engineer to analyze and optimize system response as needed. The TES uses its own angle pick-off that is independent of the pedestal's so the test mechanism is non-invasive to the customer's system.

Our Threat Simulation and Evaluation systems use commercially available sub-systems to the greatest extent possible. Our unique design allows a precise and compact antenna/pedestal to perform better than other systems its size. A collection of multi-band transmit and receive antennas are mounted on the pedestal with power amplifiers on the pedestal's yoke arms. With precise pedestal control we leverage antenna reflector size and closely placed RF transmitters, allowing for an economically-attractive solution with high in-beam power densities.  

As part of the solution, CDSI provides analytical services to ensure that our customer's technical requirements are properly addressed. We pride ourselves on elegant solutions for difficult filtering problems when the Evaluation system sensitivity may be impaired due to its vicinity to other high-power RF transmission equipment.  

The system is controlled and operated via Open-Source software coordinating this multifaceted system (video tracker, waveform generator, amplifiers, RF sensors).