A software radio-based reconfigurable transponder for space applications

A novel approach to space communications is represented by the Software Radio (SR) concept, a new technology currently deeply investigated by the scientific community, especially for wireless applications such as mobile communications or wireless network access. The SR approach leads to the definition of a new generation of radio equipment, whose communication functions are almost completely defined by means of software modules. The main outcome of the deployment of this technology is the great flexibility of the radio interface. As a matter of fact the communication standards can be easily reconfigured by simply replacing the corresponding software modules.