9. Wideband 
Digital Backend

Summary

The Wideband Digital Backend project focuses on the development and evaluation of the digital backend of the receiver for Earth observation instrumentation based on radiometers. As manmade RF emissions continue to fill more of the microwave spectrum, future radiometer missions need digital backends capable of detecting and mitigating interference in real time without compromising the scientific signal.

This work supports the broader goal of preparing the next generation of EO radiometers for an increasingly congested radio environment, with direct relevance to upcoming missions such as CryoRad.

A robust digital backend is what stands between raw observations and unusable, RFI-corrupted data. Designing and stress-testing it properly during early development is essential to safeguard the scientific return of future missions.

Our contribution

We contribute to the project through the development of an instrument simulator that generates controlled RFI scenarios, allowing the receivers under development to be evaluated against realistic interference conditions. The simulated RFI is used to assess how the receivers detect and mitigate interfering signals, feeding directly into design decisions and helping to harden the system against the RF challenges it will face in orbit.

This work draws on our long-standing expertise in RFI characterization and instrument simulation, and connects naturally to our broader portfolio of solutions in this domain (RFI Scan, Radio Frequency Simulator).

Key activities:

• Development of the instrument simulator.
• Generation of controlled RFI scenarios for receiver testing.
• Evaluation of detection and mitigation performance.
• Contribution to receiver design robustness.
• Direct relevance to future missions including CryoRad.

Dates

• Status: Ongoing