HITEC Luxembourg launches its new HITEC Antenna Tracking Simulator – HATS
The HATS (HITEC Antenna Tracking Simulator) is a simulator for ground station antenna motion as well as open- and closed-loop satellite tracking and is fully compatible with HITEC’s ACU (Antenna Control Unit). The RF signal simulation takes into account the full RF path from the satellite to the tracking receiver to offer realistic tracking behavior and performance for both step-track and monopulse tracking. It comprises a whole set of subsystems emulating satellite trajectories and their imperfections, the evolution of the RF signals (atmospheric attenuation and ray bending) as they travel from the satellite to the ground station, the impact of the antenna pattern and the downlink chains, the dynamical behavior of the servo system and the antenna’s mechanical structure, the mechanical imperfections of the antenna mount, as well as the behavior of components such as the SCU, the ACU and the tracking receiver. In addition to evaluating the antenna tracking performance, the simulator can be used as a testbed for the behavioral verification of existing or new functionalities in one of the subcomponents, such as for example the tracking algorithms in the ACU. Furthermore, it can be used for educational or training purposes or for demonstrating the underlying principles of the tracking concept or of one of the subsystems.
HITEC Luxembourg has also obtained the label “Made in Luxembourg” for the HATS.
