The Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG) was recently invited to Denmark to get an exclusive demo of Quadsat’s new geolocation tool, QS RF Locator. The solution works alongside existing geolocation tools to perform last-mile geolocation once an ellipse has been created. The company boasts far greater accuracy than alternatives and a much quicker process and invited us to check it out for ourselves. Our Managing Director, Helen Weedon, was joined by Director, Justin Miles of SES, and Board Member, Arabsat’s Yasir Hassan, with representatives also from Saudi Net Link and the European Space Agency.
In the Midst of Danish Technology
Quadsat was founded in 2017 with a mission to democratise antennas test and measurement by using drones. With engineers forming 80% of its staff, it is very much focused on product development, honing its technology to correspond to the most recent technology challenges. Its location is also not an accident. It may seem remote in the heart of the Danish countryside, but as those of you who attended our workshop there in 2023 will know, it is a perfect spot for being able to fly and test with drones. And with 10% of Odense being employed in robotics, it is an ideal spot to find the next engineers to join the team.
While we were there, the airport where Quadsat is located, also played host to the International Drone Show, which boasted a wide range of exhibitors, including drone companies, universities, and technology companies, including of course, Quadsat, with its partner, Skyeton.
Learning from Testing
Since 2017, Quadsat has performed a huge number of tests across the globe, involving a wide range of different antennas. As Joakim Espeland, Quadsat’s CEO, pointed out, over the course of the years, the team has seen a great deal of variation across those antennas. He also made the point that sometimes an error can be addressed just by knowing it exists. For example, citing a case where gravitation was having an impact on side lobes, he noted that when you know that, it can be recovered. Joakim also mentioned several test frameworks with industry, including the work it carried out to support the Satellite Operators Minimum Antenna Performance (SOMAP) group.
All of this learning has gone into further developing the product. More recently, Quadsat realised that the same technology could be very useful in a more military setting. Joakim talked us through a recent partnership with Skyeton to enable military organisations to get better visibility of objects of interest in a combat scenario. We even had chance to see a demo of the Skyeton drone flying with the Quadsat payload. It is optimised for military environments thanks to its low weight (just 23kg), very long flight time (up to 28 hours), and ability to fly very high (even over Everest – though not during this demo!).
Last-mile Geolocation
The day featured much discussion around current geolocation techniques, including a few case studies from SIG Director, Justin Miles, which highlighted how this is currently managed and some of the challenges entailed. It then culminated in an overview of QS RF Locator and a demonstration of it in action.
Rami Othman of Quadsat talked us through how QS RF Locator uses the Quadsat system to perform geolocation. The system is comprised of a drone, mounted with a purpose-built payload. Quadsat’s bespoke software is able to receive and process data from the payload which essentially can scan different areas to look for the interfering signal.
The demo itself was done in conjunction with SES. Quadsat, in discussion with the satellite operator, started a transmission and then Justin performed a geolocation and provided the ellipse of 3.75km x 1.5km. This was then used by QS RF Locator to narrow down the geolocation to the precise spot on site where the transmission was coming from. This all happened in just a few short minutes and was a great demonstration of what is possible.
Another Tool in the Toolbox
We have always said at SIG that interference resolution requires a number of different tools in the toolbox. No one solution can ever have all the answers but by having multiple tools, we can stay one step ahead. There are certainly some use cases where being able to get up close to the interfering carrier from the air will be extremely valuable, especially those cases where currently someone has to drive a van around for ages in order to locate it!