Analysis and implementation of DVB-S2 in the UHF band for STRATHcube downlink communications

This paper outlines the downlink system design for STRATHcube, a student-led CubeSat project at the University of Strathclyde. Performance and link analyses were conducted, analysing communication windows over the course of the mission and expected theoretical performance. The design was implemented in hardware using MathWorks HDL Coder and initial code developed for packet handling in software. Initial performance analysis was conducted in comparison to a reference implementation which uses Constant Coding and Modulation (CCM) and optimises for maximum availability. Our CubeSat downlink design showed a significant uplift in performance over the course of the mission compared to the reference, achieving 3.19× the data throughput. Additionally, resource analysis of the target FPGA SoC and the implemented design, as well as timing analysis, show that the system will be implementable in hardware.