Page 64 - SAMENA Trends - August 2019

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

New High-Power Solid-State Satellite Uplink Amplifier from Rohde &

Schwarz Launched at IBC 2019

At IBC 2019, Rohde & Schwarz will extend amplifier within its power category. “The goal was to substitute traditional tube
its range of solid-state satellite uplink R&S PKU100-O750 is clearly differentiated technology with the latest advances in
amplifiers with the launch of a new high- as a high-power satellite amplifier since solid-state transistors. Working at high
power model. The R&S PKU100-O750 it produces a significantly better signal frequency, the big challenge is to develop
is rated within 750W power class and quality than any other solid-state device,“ a heat sink concept to keep the transistors
is designed for outdoor operation – it commented Christian Baier, Product cool which increases their lifetime and
represents the world’s most compact and Manager and Technical Sales, Satellite performance and to come up with a
lightweight high-power satellite amplifier Amplifiers at Rohde & Schwarz. “For the first compact topology for the RF components
that is based on solid-state technology. time, it offers a reliable high-power solid with as little as possible attenuation
Together with all of the Rohde & Schwarz state alternative to traditional tube-based caused by the insertion losses of power
R&S PKU satellite amplifier family, this amplifiers. In developing its new family splitters, combiners, connectors and
new model will be commercially available of satellite amplifiers, Rohde & Schwarz’s cables.
at IBC. When first launched, the R&S PKU
amplifier family represented a new and
radically different approach to satellite
amplifiers through their use of solid-state
enabling technology in place of traditional
tube-based amplifier systems. With all
its models commercially available, Rohde
& Schwarz reports significant interest
in this new range of satellite amplifiers.
Although the R&S PKU100-O750 is rated
at 750W, it comes in a superior form
factor, representing the most compact
and lightweight high-power satellite
amplifier available on the market today.
Furthermore, through a rigorous research
and development process, Rohde &
Schwarz’s design engineers have achieved
the highest power efficiency of any

UbiquitiLink Wants to Launch Satellite “Cell Towers”

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched to the International eventually lead to the smartphone you have in your pocket getting
Space Station last week carried a tiny package that could cell service from space. If it works, the instrument could be a
precursor to a giant constellation of thousands of mini-satellites
that function as cell towers circulating all over the globe. The
package is the product of a startup called UbiquitiLink, the latest
company to propose putting a mega-constellation of satellites
into low orbit above Earth. But unlike many of these other
proposed satellite projects — such as those of SpaceX, OneWeb, or
Amazon — UbiquitiLink is not hoping to beam specialized internet
connections from space. Instead, the company is solely focused
on cellphone service, with the goal of placing small satellites into
orbit that any mobile phone can connect to seamlessly, without
any changes being made to the phones themselves. “There are
5.2 billion phone users on the planet,” Charles Miller, co-founder
and CEO of UbiquitiLink, tells The Verge. “We’re going to turn all
their phones into satellite phones.”
Ubiquitilink’s payload attached to a Cygnus cargo capsule in February Image: NASA

64 AUGUST 2019