University of Vermont¶
Type: Academia | Location: Burlington, VT | SST projects: 1
SST Portfolio¶
| Project | Title | Period | TRL | Status | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91337 | Ka-Band SDR for Small Satellite (500 Mbps ISL) | 2016-01 → 2017-10 | 3→6 | Completed | no-visible-outcome |
What Was Developed¶
Ka-band software-defined radio transceiver capable of 500 Mbps inter-satellite links (ISL) with millimeter ranging precision. Novel SiGe RF front-end circuits + digital baseband SoC chip design + electronically steered array (ESA) beam steering technique.
Three potential infusion products identified at closeout: 1. SiGe RF front-end circuits (licensable to RF device manufacturers) 2. Digital baseband SoC chip design (prototypable via ASIC) 3. ESA beam steering technique (patentable for advanced comms/tracking)
TRL 3→6 is the largest TRL jump among SST university communications projects. Co-organizations: GSFC + Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Key People¶
Tian Xia — PI¶
Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Vermont (since 2003). Research: mixed-signal and RF circuits, embedded systems, sensing and communications.
- TechPort footprint: 1 project (this one). No other NASA projects.
- Published in IEEE venues on Ka-band circuit design, PLL design, LNA debug.
- 2024 paper in Advances in Space Research: "The system design of high-throughput miniature software-defined radio as a Ka/K-band communication payload for CubeSats" — suggests continued CubeSat SDR work beyond SST.
Upstream Lineage¶
No TechPort upstream. No Advanced_From outcome record.
Downstream Impact¶
No Visible Flight or Commercial Outcome¶
Despite TRL 3→6 (impressive for a university project) and three identified infusion paths, none materialized: - No evidence of SiGe circuit licensing - No ASIC prototype produced - No ESA beam steering patent found - No follow-on TechPort projects
Continued Research (Post-SST)¶
Xia continued CubeSat Ka-band SDR research — 2024 Advances in Space Research paper on Ka/K-band CubeSat comm payload design. The SST-funded work appears to have seeded an ongoing research thread, but without commercial or flight transition.
Library Items (3 publications)¶
- "27/38 GHz Dual-Band Subsampling PLL Design with Automated Frequency Calibration"
- "A 28 GHz LNA Circuit Layout Debug through Electromagnetic Analysis"
- "A Dual-Band 28/38GHz Cascaded Phase Locked Loop Circuit Design"
Plus 1 NTRS citation: "Design and Validation of High Data Rate Ka-Band Software Defined Radio for Small Satellite" (NTRS 20160007909).
Context within SST Communications¶
SST's communications arc is dominated by optical (OCSD→TBIRD 200 Gbps, CLICK laser crosslinks). RF/Ka-band SDR projects (Vermont, Vulcan) advanced TRL but didn't achieve the breakthrough profile of the optical chain. See Comms topic.
Assessment¶
Outcome category: no-visible-outcome
Pattern: "Academic TRL Ceiling with Continued Thread" — achieved TRL 6 (unusual for a university) and identified clear infusion paths, but lacked the industry partner or follow-on funding to cross the valley of death. Xia continued the research independently.
Distinctive: TRL 3→6 is the strongest TRL performance among single-university SST comms projects. The 3-publication output and continued 2024 research suggest the SST investment generated durable knowledge, even without visible transition.
Last updated: 2026-04-14 (session 20)