XLink
IQ Spacecom
XLink is a flight-proven, software-defined radio (SDR) transceiver platform for small satellites, supporting X-, S-, L- and Ka-band links with CCSDS and DVB-S2 protocols.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Data rate
- 200 Mbps
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Flight heritage
- Flight proven design (TRL 9)
- Interfaces
- Gigabit Ethernet; RS422 (SPI, UART, CAN)
- Protocols
- CCSDS and DVB-S2
- Downlink/telemetry and payload data rate
- up to 200 Mbps
- Uplink/telecommand data rate
- up to 1024 kbps
- Frequency bands supported
- X-, S-, L- and Ka-band
- Xlink-x
- Optional two separate Tx channels and S-Band Rx channel, for increased transmit power or redundancy
- Xlink-s
- Optional two separate Tx and Rx channels, for increased transmit power or redundancy
- Xlink-s tm/tc
- Integrated receive-ready GPIO pin to notify connected satellite systems that data is being received from the ground
- Xlink-l
- Optional two separate Tx and Rx channels, for redundancy or connecting antennas on opposite sides
- Xlink-x power amplifier
- Output power up to +34 dBm, commanded and handled via XLink-X
- Xlink-ska payload downlink data rate
- up to 200 Mbps in newly available frequency bands
About
XLink is a fully featured bidirectional SDR transceiver platform built with cost-effective commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components to achieve high reliability at short delivery times. It is flight-proven (TRL 9) and supports multiple frequency bands – X-, S-, L- and Ka-band – making it suited for small satellites operating in LEO. XLink supports both CCSDS and DVB-S2 protocols and offers a Gigabit Ethernet interface for reliable telemetry and telecommand operations, with RS422 (SPI, UART, CAN) also available. It provides high bandwidth efficiency with data rates for downlink/telemetry and payload of up to 200 Mbps and uplink/telecommand of up to 1024 kbps. The platform is offered in several variants: XLink-X, which optionally supports two separate Tx channels plus an S-Band Rx channel for increased transmit power or redundancy; XLink-S, which optionally supports two separate Tx and Rx channels for increased transmit power or redundancy; XLink-S TM/TC, which adds an integrated receive-ready GPIO pin to notify other connected satellite systems that data is being received from the ground; XLink-L, which optionally supports two separate Tx and Rx channels for redundancy or connecting antennas on opposite sides of the spacecraft; and XLink-SKa, the latest development for SKa-band offering a payload downlink data rate of up to 200 Mbps in newly available frequency bands. An additional XLink-X Power Amplifier module, commanded and handled via XLink-X, enables an output power of up to +34 dBm. Various multi-band XLink architectures are available for enhanced operational flexibility.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.