Commercial applications of millimeter wave modules are important to many applications which include: Radar applications (e.g., imaging radar, radio frequency identification, speed detection) Wireless uncompressed video/audio transport (MP3, HDTV), Wireless local and personal area networking (WLAN and WPAN), High accuracy sensors (e.g., Doppler, displacement, sub-wavelength resolution microwave impedance microscopy, passive radiometry measurements) Extremely high security communications and sensors with very low probability of intercept (LPI). The drive for millimeter wave products and systems in wireless applications results from: • Improved performance for both short and long range distance applications • Operate at higher data rates • Results in small diameter transmitter and receiver elements • Have good propagation characteristics under all weather conditions • Opens new frequency operating regions These are only some of the examples of applications that will benefit from our proposed work to establish automated low cost assembly processes for mmWave modules. Since 2003 JPL has been developing Miniature MMIC low power radiometers for a number of observational satellites employing both infrared (IR) and microwave (MW) atmospheric sounders. Clouds are almost completely opaque at infrared wavelengths, satellites require cloud free observation. Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) provide coverage in relatively narrow swaths, and with revisit time of 12-24 hours. GeoSTAR offers the possibility of MW temperature and water vapor soundings as well as rain mapping from GEO. The project will develop the infrastructure to assemble thousands of devices necessary to support these and other similar NASA/JPL projects, while providing the opportunity for commercialization in Phase 3. Bids on future requirements at NASA will be: GeoSTAR Surface Water Land Hydrology & topology (SWOT) Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite Wilkerson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL)
