Projects/MidasBeaconReceiver

Software Radio Beacon Receiver

This project seeks to implement a satellite beacon receiver using the MIDAS-M data system and software radio techniques. The intent of this effort is to measure the S4 index and TEC using satellite beacons at 150, 244, 400, and 1067 MHz. This data will be collected, processed, and delivered to the Madrigal database for management and visualization. A series of MIDAS-M systems have been deployed in the ISIS Array. The result of this project will be that selected ISIS sites will be enabled for beacon reception.

The effort is divided into three subprojects :

  1. Development of an integrated beacon receiver

    • This sub-project will focus on the development of a highly integrated receiver for beacon reception as part of the ISIS (Intercepted Signals for Ionospheric Science) system. The RF signal path for the satellite signals will be designed and a printed circuit board (PCB) will be fabricated. Firmware to control the tuner will be implemented. The resulting down converter will be assembled and then tested in the lab and the field using the ISIS software radio platform for data acquisition. If time allows techniques for calibration of the receivers will be developed.

  2. Beacon signal acquisition and processing using software radio

    • This sub-project will involve the development of the software necessary for acquisition and processing of beacon signals using the ISIS software radio platform. The software development will involve predicts of satellite over-flights, planning of the tuning frequencies and observation intervals, operation of the ISIS software radio platform, and processing of the signals to extract and compute scintillation and integrated electron content (IEC) measurements. Testing of the processing chain will be done on real signals obtained initially in a test configuration and later using the integrated beacon receiver developed in project 7 above.

  3. Real-time receiver data management and visualization using MADRIGAL

    • This sub-project will involve the collection of scintillation data from a variety of sources into the Madrigal database. These sources include the software beacon receiver to be developed in the first two sub-projects and a GPS scintillation monitor currently installed at Haystack. A key element of analyzing complex scientific data is the use of advanced visualization tools. Tools will be developed to interpret scintillation information in a broader scientific context. For example, pre-existing displays of large gradients in the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) will be overlaid with the scintillation statistics to look for possible correlations.

last edited 2007-08-10 18:28:19 by FrankLind