TDRS Ku-Band Gateway

Abstract

The Wideband Transport Frame Formatter (WTFF) is the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Ku-band return link gateway. This gateway is designed to support the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). The WTFF is being developed by Goddard Space Flight Center as a proof of concept project for the CCSDS and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This design is in many aspects consistent with the Open System Interconnect (ISO) model's "lower layer architecture". The WTFF system is a multiplexing device developed to process and downlink the high rate data generated by a wide variety of users. The WTFF is designed to frame and format high data rate user channels into transport frames and multiplex according to a predefined schedule into two bit streams that are compatible with TDRS Ku I and Q band service. The combined data rate will be 300 Mbps. The WTFF will service up to eight input channels generating data in the range of 10 to 150 Mbps. In addition to these input channels, audio data will be accepted by the WTFF system and inserted in the downlink. A second function of the WTFF is to provide telecommunication coding as assigned to each virtual channel to ensure a given quality of service.