ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9762
Open Date: 02/07/2019
Closing Date: 16/09/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.1TT.37
Prog. Ref.: CC for Advanced Tech
Budget Ref.: E/0505-01C – CC for Advanced Tech
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+CA+HU
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / System Engineering Software / System Modelling & Simulation / Other
Technology Domains: RF Systems, Payloads and Technologies / Telecommunication Systems/Subsystems / Telecom Signal Processing
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate Telecom & Integrated Applica
Department: Telecom Technologies,Product&Systems Dep
Division: Future Projects Division
Contract Officer: Piesche, Claudia Ria
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 02/07/2019
Update Reason: Tender issue

The objective of the activity is to develop a demonstrator of a satellite system where 3GPP NB-IoT user sensors are fully integrated. The demonstrator will consist of an on-board transceiver prototype integrated in a test bed capable of emulating a number of users and channel impairments to demonstrate the system’s performance in realistic conditions.Targeted Improvements: Enabling the integration of 3GPP NB-IoT user sensors into satellite networks. Description: Terrestrial mobile networks will start providingInternet-of-Things (IoT) services in the near future using a narrowband (NB) radio technology standardised under 3GPP: the 3GPP NB-IoT waveform. Preliminary analyses have shown that this waveform can be used by satellite systems in non-geostationary orbits under certain constraints. However, to enable the integration of user sensors employing this technology, it is necessary to develop an on-board transceiver capable of overcoming the technical challenges of using a waveform that was not originally conceived for satellite communications. Moreover, the transceiver needs to be compatible with small platforms in terms of mass, power and volume as these platforms are usually the ones selected to provide M2M services. Finally, it is also important to develop and propose waveform adaptations thatwould allow maximising the efficiency of a satellite system. Hence, to address these needs, this activity will develop an on-board transceiver capable of supporting the 3GPP NB-IoT waveform within the mass, power and volume constraints of a small platform (<12U).The on-board transceiver will be integrated in a test bed capable of emulating different scenarios as well as relevant channel impairments to validate its performance in realistic conditions. Besides, the activity will develop and validate adaptations to the waveform’s physical and MAC layers to make it performant over satellite.