New Technologies for Second Generation Search and Rescue. This project aims to improve the Cospas-Sarsat search and rescue system to ensure faster, more reliable, more accurate, and more cost-effective search and rescue operations, ultimately saving lives. The satellite-based Cospas-Sarsat system has assisted with the emergency rescue of more than 35 000 lives worldwide since its introduction in 1982. A second generation of this system is currently under development, promising to significantly i ....New Technologies for Second Generation Search and Rescue. This project aims to improve the Cospas-Sarsat search and rescue system to ensure faster, more reliable, more accurate, and more cost-effective search and rescue operations, ultimately saving lives. The satellite-based Cospas-Sarsat system has assisted with the emergency rescue of more than 35 000 lives worldwide since its introduction in 1982. A second generation of this system is currently under development, promising to significantly improve detection rate and localisation accuracy. However, in an emergency, the system’s performance is often compromised due to interference and atmospheric effects, leading to false detections that waste valuable resources. This project aims to develop novel techniques to improve this performance.Read moreRead less
Satellite Data Communications for Remote Sensing and Broadband Connectivity. The remote, distributed location of many of Australia's primary industries preclude the use of consumer-oriented terrestrial wireless broadband services. In many instances, satellite communications provides the only feasible means of connectivity for telemetry, supervisory control and data acquisition, tracking and fleet management. Meteorology, remote sensing, irrigation, mining, oil and gas exploration, and fisheries ....Satellite Data Communications for Remote Sensing and Broadband Connectivity. The remote, distributed location of many of Australia's primary industries preclude the use of consumer-oriented terrestrial wireless broadband services. In many instances, satellite communications provides the only feasible means of connectivity for telemetry, supervisory control and data acquisition, tracking and fleet management. Meteorology, remote sensing, irrigation, mining, oil and gas exploration, and fisheries are just a few examples of high-value applications of particular significance to Australia. This project will develop bandwidth efficient satellite communications technologies that greatly reduce cost and pave the way toward new market opportunities for broadband access and telemetry applications. Read moreRead less
Downlinks for Future Earth Observation Satellites: Breaking the Bottlenecks. Future earth-observation satellites require gigabit transmission rates in higher frequency bands. Limitations in the radio frequency spectrum call for spectrally-efficient modulation schemes, which make gigabit data rates particularly challenging. This project aims to design a next-generation transmission scheme for future Ka-Band gigabit satellite downlinks, including novel approaches for dealing with channel effects s ....Downlinks for Future Earth Observation Satellites: Breaking the Bottlenecks. Future earth-observation satellites require gigabit transmission rates in higher frequency bands. Limitations in the radio frequency spectrum call for spectrally-efficient modulation schemes, which make gigabit data rates particularly challenging. This project aims to design a next-generation transmission scheme for future Ka-Band gigabit satellite downlinks, including novel approaches for dealing with channel effects such as group delay, ripple and non-linear satellite power amplifiers. The design intends to include high-speed signal processing and coding architectures, plus real-time signal synthesis and acquisition to allow realistic performance testing and optimisation with satellite hardware from Thales Alenia Space.Read moreRead less
Advanced Signal Processing Techniques for Very High Rate Satellite Demodulators. The purpose of the project is to develop new approaches to the design and implementation of very high-rate modems for satellite communication links. In this context data rates between 500 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s are targeted. The project aims to bring together two organisations which combined have the technical expertise, track record, market knowledge and motivation to create a significant new capability in satellite ....Advanced Signal Processing Techniques for Very High Rate Satellite Demodulators. The purpose of the project is to develop new approaches to the design and implementation of very high-rate modems for satellite communication links. In this context data rates between 500 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s are targeted. The project aims to bring together two organisations which combined have the technical expertise, track record, market knowledge and motivation to create a significant new capability in satellite communications. The project will result in new techniques for the reception and processing of high bandwidth signals to achieve better performance with flexible and cost-efficient designs such as high end earth-resource and surveillance satellite data reception.Read moreRead less
Adaptive Modulation For OFDM Signals. The sub band Signal To Noise Ratio in an OFDM communications channel varies by as much as 30 dB. In order to optimise the bandwidth efficiency of OFDM signalling it is desirable to adapt the chosen modulation technique such as M-ary QAM to the SNR available in sub bands. In this way high quality channels transmit the highest bit rates, whilst low quality channels accommodate the lowest bit rates. The net result is that the capacity of the communications link ....Adaptive Modulation For OFDM Signals. The sub band Signal To Noise Ratio in an OFDM communications channel varies by as much as 30 dB. In order to optimise the bandwidth efficiency of OFDM signalling it is desirable to adapt the chosen modulation technique such as M-ary QAM to the SNR available in sub bands. In this way high quality channels transmit the highest bit rates, whilst low quality channels accommodate the lowest bit rates. The net result is that the capacity of the communications link does not have to be limited by designing for worst case conditions.Read moreRead less
Optimal Waveform Design and Compensation Techniques for Non Linear Communication Channels. Distortion effects in satellite amplifiers have a serious impact upon communication system performance, for example, by increasing the error rates.
The research study we are proposing involves analysing these distortion causing non linear effects and designing techniques to compensate for them. Although we are initially interested in the nonlinear satellite channel, we intend the results to be extended t ....Optimal Waveform Design and Compensation Techniques for Non Linear Communication Channels. Distortion effects in satellite amplifiers have a serious impact upon communication system performance, for example, by increasing the error rates.
The research study we are proposing involves analysing these distortion causing non linear effects and designing techniques to compensate for them. Although we are initially interested in the nonlinear satellite channel, we intend the results to be extended to other difficult nonlinear channels such as will be present in future 3G and 4G mobile communication systems.
The proposed research will place Australia at the forefront of cutting edge Information Technology and Communications research.
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High Bandwidth Efficient Schemes for Portable Multimedia Communications. The introduction of multimedia services for mobile users has resulted in a shortage of satellite spectrum. Spot beam technology is used to provide service in areas of high user density. Adjacent overlapping beams are allocated different frequency bands, however interference from neighbouring beams limits capacity. Multi-User Detection is a technology capable of significantly increasing capacity by frequency re-use in adj ....High Bandwidth Efficient Schemes for Portable Multimedia Communications. The introduction of multimedia services for mobile users has resulted in a shortage of satellite spectrum. Spot beam technology is used to provide service in areas of high user density. Adjacent overlapping beams are allocated different frequency bands, however interference from neighbouring beams limits capacity. Multi-User Detection is a technology capable of significantly increasing capacity by frequency re-use in adjacent spot beams. The aim of this project is to investigate receiver design for multi-user spot-beam channels and develop associated synchronisation and channel estimation methods. The outcome will be efficient communications systems supporting higher user populations, without increasing the bandwidth required.Read moreRead less
Hydrogen generation by subsurface iron mineral transformations. Aim
The aim of this project is to elucidate key factors responsible for natural hydrogen generation in Australian subsurface environments.
Significance
Large amounts of this valuable resource are produced naturally with estimates of production rates of this “gold” hydrogen at least 100 times the annual demand for this critical resource.
Expected Outcomes
Based on improved understanding of the source of natural hydrogen, predictive ....Hydrogen generation by subsurface iron mineral transformations. Aim
The aim of this project is to elucidate key factors responsible for natural hydrogen generation in Australian subsurface environments.
Significance
Large amounts of this valuable resource are produced naturally with estimates of production rates of this “gold” hydrogen at least 100 times the annual demand for this critical resource.
Expected Outcomes
Based on improved understanding of the source of natural hydrogen, predictive tools will be developed that will assist in assessing the viability in Australia of hydrogen exploration and engineered retrieval.
Benefits
Ready access to naturally produced hydrogen could enable Australia to replace hydrogen that is currently generated via the use of unabated hydrocarbons.Read moreRead less