ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO10672
Open Date: 12/03/2021
Closing Date: 11/06/2021 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 21.1TT.04
Prog. Ref.: CC-AT 4.0.1
Budget Ref.: E/0534-01G – CC-AT 4.0.1
Special Prov.: BE+DK+FR+DE+IT+NL+ES+SE+CH+GB+IE+AT+NO+FI+PT+GR+LU+CZ+RO+CA+HU+PL
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / RF / Microwave Communication (Platform and Payloads) / “Communication – BB (Antennas excluded)” / Other
Technology Domains: RF Systems, Payloads and Technologies / RF Technologies and Equipment / RF Devices
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate Telecom & Integrated Applica
Department: Telecom Technologies,Product&Systems Dep
Division: Technologies and Products Division
Contract Officer: Ferreol, Audrey
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 12/03/2021
Update Reason: Tender issue

The objective of this activity is to design, develop and test C-, Ku- and Ka-band filters directly embedded in the substrate (PCB and/or LTCC) of microwave equipment.Targeted Improvements: Up to 30% footprint reduction for microwave equipment. Description: When medium to high Q-factor filters are employed in front-end microwave equipment, often waveguide/combline filters with waveguide or coaxial interfaces are selected. These are bulky filters requiring, in most of the cases, connectorised interfaces. The size of the RFmodule (e.g. frequency converter, low noise amplifier) is often limited by the physical size of the filters that are needed to remove all of the unwanted signals. Conventional microstrip filters offer a somewhat reduced footprint but often do not meet the stringent RF performance specifications. Filtering solutions based on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology or multilayer printed circuit boards (PCB) have been developed and offer a good degree of compactness, but at the expense of electrical performance (Q-factor). Additionally, the filter integration is mainly achieved by soldering to a PCB surface, which introduces complex RF interfaces that need to be accounted for in the design and testing. This activity will develop and test solutions that integrate high performance filters in RF modules with medium to high Q-factor equivalent to brick-wall-type responses, exploiting the structural partalready offered by the substrate. This will include the development of suitable interfaces to other units in the RF chain. C- to Ka-band filter solutions shall be studied, designed, manufactured and tested.