07/20/2022
By Sokny Long

The University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, invites you to attend a Master’s thesis defense by Nicholas Novaris on “Integrated Satellite Communication Receiver For K-band Applications.”

MSE Candidate: Nicholas Novaris
Defense Date: Wednesday August 3rd, 2022
Time: 10 a.m. to Noon
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact Nicholas_Novaris@student.uml.edu and committee advisor, Hualiang_Zhang@uml.edu, at least 24 hours prior to the defense to request access to the meeting.

Committee Chair (Advisor): Hualiang Zhang, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Committee Members:
Joel Therrien, Associate Chair for Graduate MS Programs & Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Man Hoi Wong, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Brief Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to investigate the implementation of a high gain, low noise figure integrated microwave receiver that operates in the K-band radio frequency (RF) spectrum, specifically 17 to 21 GHz for satellite communication (SATCOM) applications. Where the typical front-end receiver requires external low noise amplifiers, oscillators, driver amplifiers, matching components and bias components to complete the system, our design brings all of these together. The strategy was to design and build a single system block to connect to the receiver antenna and down convert to an IF which can be analyzed by an IF receiver. The receiver will contain a total of eight monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), designed on to a single printed circuit board (PCB), with all necessary biasing included. The thesis presents the receiver system design topology and simulated performance followed by the measured data and analysis.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend the online defense via remote access.