In this project, the student will implement an ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) unit for using an SDR (Software Defined Radio) approach. The student will work with Nutaq’s state-of-the-art platforms such as ZeptoSDR and PicoDigitizer (http://nutaq.com/en/sdr-comparison-chart). These rapid prototyping platforms can be easily programmed using Nutaq’s MBDK (Model Based Design Kit), powerful software tools such as Xilinx ISE Foundation and MATLAB/Simulink, and SDK (Software Development Kit) such as GNU Radio (http://gnuradio.org). The objective is to develop an embedded unit able to communicate ACARS messages compliant with ARINC standards.
Useful skills for success: Xilinx ISE Foundation, MATLAB/Simulink, C++, MSK modulation and demodulation, PLLs, digital communications.
ACARS satellite communication data played a very significant role in efforts to locate Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March 2014.
