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Rainee N Simons

Publications and source records attributed to Rainee N Simons.

10 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Spectrally Efficient GaN High-Power Amplifier for Lunar Communications

The paper demonstrates a spectrally efficient Ka-band GaN MMIC based high-power amplifier (HPA) that uses a waveguide 4-port magic-tee as a 2-way power combiner to combine the output from two lower power amplifier circuits. The paper presents for the prototype HPA the measured output power, gain, power added efficiency, error vector magnitude for Offset-QPSK, 8PSK, 16APSK, 32APSK, and 16QAM waveforms, waveform spectrum, and out-of-band spectral regrowth. The HPA is intended for establishing a direct communication link between assets on the lunar surface/orbit and Earth.

Gallium nitride↗
NASA NTRS2003

Radio Frequency Telemetry System for Sensors and Actuators

The present invention discloses and teaches apparatus for combining Radio Frequency (RF) technology with novel micro-inductor antennas and signal processing circuits for RF telemetry of real time, measured data, from microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors, through electromagnetic coupling with a remote poweringheceiving device. Such technology has many applications, but is especially useful in the biomedical area.

Rainee N Simons↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cognitive Tapered Slot Circular Array Antenna for Lunar Surface Communications

In this paper, we present the design of a cognitive tapered slot circular array (TSCA) antenna with multiple electronically switched sector beams for lunar surface communication. The circular array is capable of sensing the frequency, power, and direction of arrival of the RF signals. The design of the TSCA builds on our prior work on the development of a single TSA element with a balanced microstrip/coax feed. The measured return loss of the single TSA element shows wide bandwidth with good impedance match across the 5 to 35 GHz frequency range. Additionally, the single TSA has good radiation patterns. The single TSA serves as the building block for a four-element TSCA with multiple electronically switched sector beams for sensing and communications.

Cognitive communications↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cognitive Tapered Slot Circular Array Antenna for Lunar Surface Communications

In this paper, we present the design of a cognitive tapered slot circular array (TSCA) antenna with multiple electronically switched sector beams for lunar surface communication. The circular array is capable of sensing the frequency, power, and direction of arrival of the RF signals. The design of the TSCA builds on our prior work on the development of a single TSA element with a balanced microstrip/coax feed. The measured return loss of the single TSA element shows wide bandwidth with good impedance match across the 5 to 35 GHz frequency range. Additionally, the single TSA has good radiation patterns. The single TSA serves as the building block for a four-element TSCA with multiple electronically switched sector beams for sensing and communications.

Antenna↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Self-Healing RF/Microwave Communications Circuits/Systems for NASA Missions—A Review

The success of current and future NASA missions relies in great part on the performance reliability and robustness of the communication circuits and systems of said missions. Some of the manifestations of reliability and robustness are comprised by properties such as graceful degradation, which provide redundancy and potentially longer life to the mission, and the ability to perform efficiently in harsh environments destinations such as Venus and the Jovian and Saturnian moons Europa and Enceladus, respectively. While several approaches have been considered or are currently underway to develop communications circuitry capable of performing in harsh environments, they lack the flexibility to enable reconfigurability to preserve functionality under adverse or contingency scenarios. This paper discusses some examples of self-healing RF/Microwave communications circuits and systems that could provide advantageous options in support of NASA missions.

self-healing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Spectrally Efficient Ka-Band GaN Power Amplifier with Scalable Power Combining Architecture for Lunar High Data Rate Direct-to-Earth Communications

The output power from a single gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) based monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier (PA) chip is limited to few watts. To achieve higher power, the output from several chips have to be combined. In this paper we present, the results of a study conducted to investigate a 2-way power combiner to combine the output power from two GaN MMIC based high power amplifier (HPA) chips The parameters investigated includes the power combiner characteristics, individual GaN MMIC based HPA output power, gain, and power added efficiency, and the overall performance of the combined amplifier.

Gallium Nitride↗