An Adaptive RF Front-End Architecture for Multi-Band SDR in Avionics

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Aerospace Engineering
• Communications Engineering

Background:

• Reliable communication, navigation, and surveillance systems are critical for aviation safety.
• Existing radio frequency front-end (RFFE) architectures may limit the adaptability and efficiency of software-defined radios (SDRs) in dynamic aviation environments.
• The need for versatile and efficient RFFE solutions is paramount to enhance connectivity and safety standards in aviation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a reconfigurable and agile RFFE architecture for SDRs tailored to aviation requirements.
• To demonstrate the integration of this flexible RFFE within SDRs, focusing on key components and RF pathways.
• To validate the performance enhancements and address size, weight, and power-cost (SWaP-C) considerations for aviation applications.

Main Methods:

• Design and integration of a novel RFFE architecture for SDRs, including receivers, transmitters, RF switches, combiners, and splitters.
• Comprehensive performance evaluations, including analysis of receiver gain, linearity, and two-tone test results.
• Assessment of SWaP-C metrics and comparison with existing solutions.

Main Results:

• The proposed RFFE architecture significantly enhances SDR performance by adapting to varying signal requirements, frequencies, and protocols.
• Demonstrated improvements in spectrum utilization, signal integrity, and overall system efficiency.
• The single-board RFFE solution reduces size and weight by up to 18 dB gain, enhances radio channel management capacity by three times, and offers significant SWaP-C gains.

Conclusions:

• The reconfigurable and agile RFFE architecture is highly suitable for aviation radios, offering enhanced reliability and functionality.
• This innovation provides substantial gains in operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness for aviation communication systems.
• The architecture's flexibility enables seamless software transitions and superior multi-radio channel management capabilities.