DIFI Announces PlugFest 2024 Europe, June 17-21
2024年5月10日 - 10:39PM
UK Satellite Applications Catapult’s Harwell Campus will be the
site of the second PlugFest of the Digital Intermediate Frequency
Interoperability Consortium (DIFI). This first-ever DIFI event in
Europe is being organized by founding member ETL Systems. The
PlugFest, which will include companies testing digital operability
of ground segment technology using the DIFI Standard, begins on
Monday June 17 and will run through Friday June 21. From Monday to
Thursday morning, the event is restricted to DIFI members bringing
equipment to be tested, while Thursday afternoon’s Showcase event
will be open to all and include a keynote, panel session,
demonstrations and discussions with the companies testing the
interoperability of their products.
During the last PlugFest, hosted by Kratos Defense &
Security Solutions in Colorado Springs, USA, 25 engineers tested 13
vendor technologies at the 1.1 standard level. Nearly 90% of the
planned interoperability tests were successful, proving the core
functionality of the DIFI Standard in providing interoperability
among different vendor systems. During the UK event, the goal is to
test compatibility for products at the 1.1 and the new 1.2
level.
DIFI’s Chairman and Kratos’ Vice President of Advance Technology
Stuart Daughtridge noted that, during the last PlugFest, the test
profiles ranged from low to high sample rates with low to high bit
depths – specifically, from 12.5 Msamples/sec at a bit depth of 16
bits per sample, up to 750 Msamples/sec at a bit depth of 6 bits.
“We expect this PlugFest to be as rigorous and productive for our
members,” he added. “It will also provide more opportunities for
engagement with the Showcase and networking to follow.”
Simon Swift, Engineering Director for Digital Technologies with
ETL Systems, the host organization for the event added, “We are
very proud to bring this PlugFest to the UK and Europe. Our members
here and internationally are keenly interested in interoperability
as a means of continuing the innovations that are taking place at
teleports and the ground segment of the satellite industry.”
For information on registration for DIFI PlugFest 2024
Europe, email plugfest@dificonsortium.org
For information on membership visit: www.dificonsortium.org
About DIFI
The mission of the Digital Intermediate Frequency
Interoperability (DIFI) Consortium is to enable the digital
transformation of space, satellite, and related industries by
providing a simple, open, interoperable Digital IF/RF standard that
replaces the natural interoperability of analog IF signals and
helps prevent vendor lock-in. Today, ground segment relies on
coaxial cable to transport RF at intermediate frequencies, such as
L-Band, between antennas and modems and through multiple analog
devices. Analog IF systems, with their inflexible chain of
hardware, are difficult to scale and complex to operate. They are
struggling to handle today’s capacity demands and cannot scale up
to meet the needs of tomorrow.
The industry needs an open and transparent standard, developed,
and adopted not by vendors alone but by users, operators and
vendors working together. A standard that meets the broadest
range of needs without becoming too complex and costly to
implement. A standard that reduces the total cost of
ownership and boosts network and terminal agility, performance, and
resilience, enabling ground segment to seamlessly adapt to rapidly
changing space-layer payloads, orbits and constellations.
Contact:Joni Sterlacci, Program Manager,
j.sterlacci@ieee.org