ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO10357
Open Date: 10/07/2020
Closing Date: 18/09/2020 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 20.1ET.14
Prog. Ref.: Technology Developme
Budget Ref.: E/0901-01 – Technology Developme
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+PL+EE+HU
Tender Type: C
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Products: Ground Segment / Ground Station / RF equipment / Transmitter and Receiver assemblies, Frequency converters / Ground Segment / Ground Station / F&T equipment / GPS Receivers
Technology Domains: RF Systems, Payloads and Technologies / Radio Navigation Systems/Subsystems / Ground Receivers
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: Electrical Department
Contract Officer: Seynaeve, Christophe Rene R.
Industrial Policy Measure: C2 – Activities in open competition, significant partecipat…
Last Update Date: 10/07/2020
Update Reason: Tender issue

The reduction of power consumption is, since long, a key design driver in GNSS chipsets. With the generalisation of asset tracking in logistics/industry and the uptake of the so-called iot, this driver takes a new dimension. For this segment, positioning devices should fulfil 15-years operations based on low-cost batteries (or energy harvesting) and achieve better than 50m accuracy.Currently, LPWAN-based positioning (including NB-iot) may be preferred to GNSS because of energy consumption. However, LPWAN have their own shortcomings, such as accuracy (>100 m) and limited coverage for positioning (a typical LPWAN coverage outside urban areas yields at best, one or two nodes in visibility of the users whereas positioning requires 3 nodes).In this context, the combination of optimized GNSS with LPWAN communication and positioning appears a promising way forward. The activity shall leverage on GNSS snapshot receivers and spin in LPWAN technologies to prove this concept of hybridization. The following technological opportunities are consideredfor breadboarding activities and laboratory experiments:- Optimization of GNSS working point, leveraging on features of modern GNSS(e.g. Galileo, GPS L1C almanac concept), management of duty cycle, idle mode and wake-up procedures- Optimal sharing of functionsbetween UE (user equipment) and wireless networks-Optimal combination of technologies and cooperation of UE in vicinity. This includes a collaborative proximity processing based on the concept of reducing the power consumption of the entire group of UE rather thanthe single UE (examples are available in telecom, with applications of game theory to physical layer of mobile ad hoc networks)Theactivity shall demonstrate the improvement of the identified solution(s) with breadboards, and benchmark them with state-of-the-artstandalone low energy positioning solutions.This activity encompasses the following tasks:-Gathering and characterization of the relevant state-of-the-art-Design and development of a breadboard for the innovative solution-Field trials and performance assessment-Synthesis, outreach and recommendation for ways forward.Procurement Policy: C(2) = A relevant participation (in terms of quality and quantity) of non-primes (incl. SMEs) is required. For additional information please go to EMITS news “Industrial Policy measures for non-primes, SMEs and RD entities in ESA programmes”.