Projects

Application of Ferrite Polymer Compound (FPC) in space technologies

Ferrite-polymer composites (FPC) are materials that consist of ferrite particles in a polymer matrix. They are used in cases where it is necessary to achieve pronounced magnetic properties in thin, flexible layers, eg a low-profile DC-DC converter or an EMI filter on a flexible substrate. Ferrite-polymer composites are obtained by mixing ferrite particles (e.g. NiZn, MnZn) with a polymer matrix (e.g. PVA, PVC) and applied to the substrate by screen printing. Electronic circuits are exposed to electromagnetic (EM) and radioactive radiation in space, and the aim of the project is to examine the application of FPC in these conditions. Protection against EM radiation is achieved by a conventional formulation of FPC, while protection against radioactive radiation can be achieved, e.g., by filling a polymer matrix with (nano) lead particles.

Author: Jurica Kundrata, PhD

Processing of digital signals in the field of graphics cards (GPU) in space technologies

Modern K-band satellites, namely Ku, K and Ka, use frequencies in the range of 12 GHz to 40 GHz in order to improve bandwidth (in the range of gigabytes per second) and cover a larger possible number of end users. Due to various atmospheric disturbances, the possibility of signal interference with other signals in space, and taking into account equipment imperfections, the modulated signals are covered by complex recovery and error detection (CRC) codes, such as the Viterbi algorithm, which are extremely computationally demanding as well as logical operations on data generated after signal demodulation and decoding. Previous technology has solved the problem with specifically designed hardware support and as such is extremely expensive and inflexible, and the development of computer technologies has enabled software performance. The implementation of digital signal processing at the software level allows additional manipulation and flexibility and is dramatically cheaper, but still significantly slower than the hardware pair, so one way to perform the implementation of parallel processing and processing over the field of graphics cards (GPU).

Author: Ivan Ačkar, MSc