Plasma Antenna for satellite NavigationSTARLET

4° Bando Tematico per PMI

«Navigazione ed Osservazione della Terra»

ASI, 27/05/2015

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STARLET Objectives

Gaseous Plasma Antennas (GPAs) rely on partially or fully ionized gas as the conducting medium instead of metal to generate EM waves.

The Idea

Both plasma frequency (ωp) and signalfrequency (ω) are relevant, along with 2 distinct circuits to generate plasma andtransmit/receive signal.

Key Features

Electronically reconfigurable on microseconds time scales Controlled Radiated Pattern Low Radar Cross Section Plasma discharges can be nested and stacked

multi-beam / beam forming / beam steering multi-band / from narrow to broad band smart with DSP algorithm jamming/spoofing-resistant & multipath-reduction operations

The STARLET Concept

STARLET antenna Front view (left), and Top view (right). (1) First (upper)layer, and (2) second (lower) layer of the antenna, (3) dielectric housing,(4,5) plasma elements for different polarizations, respectively, turned ON(green/orange) and OFF (white).

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3

4 54 5 2

The Numerical Tools

Numerical tools for the antenna design and simulation1. Global Model - assessment of achievable plasma discharge

parameters (e.g., plasma density), power requirements2. F3MPIC – assessment of the role played by plasma transport

phenomena within the single discharge element3. ADAMANT – characterization of the radiation properties (e.g.,

gain) of both the single discharge and the

Plasma Dipole

non-magnetized

plasma dipole

Plasma Dipole – The effect of plasma density

Antenna Concepts

…and the single plasma dischargelooks like this

Contact Info

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ELITAL: Guido Arista

Mob: +39 328 9843880

arista@elital.com www.elital.com

ALMA : Alessio Di Iorio

Mob: +39 335 6317013

adi@alma-sistemi.com www.alma-sistemi.com

Contact InfoContact Info