Who We Are
TFWireless is a semiconductor IP-core startup developing the novel ‘FutureG/6G’ modem technology, Forward Error Correction (FEC) - Physical Layer Rateless Codec for Satellite Communications (SATCOM).
The startup’s mission is to develop transformative SATCOM modem technology that provides high throughput and coverage, bandwidth gains, high energy efficiency, and a dramatic reduction in costs.
The novel FEC or 6G modem solutions will be offered as custom silicon ASICs, FPGA IP cores, or Software Defined Radios on the edge baseband units depending on the Satellite/Ground segment customer’s needs. We are a fabless semiconductor startup for SATCOM modems.
TFWireless will be a vendor of optical SATCOM modems and a licensor of the PHY layer IP, including patented designs for FEC encoders, decoders, and related baseband blocks of a communication system.
How the Optical Modem Works
The modems function at leading-edge RF frequencies (Ka-band) and optical 1550nm band wavelengths. The modem designs provide SWaP-C savings opportunities through modular, scalable, miniaturized ASIC/FPGA solutions. The ‘FutureG’ optical modem will be reconfigurable with up to three selectable waveforms.
TFWireless’ technical offering is to provide a single, common modem design that could be integrated with a variety of other SATCOM terminal elements (i.e., antennas and amplifiers), which will permit usage of scalable RF/optical power and aperture products. Such a modem design could enable fielding solutions which are scalable in SWaP-C.
The modem will support multiple data rates that scale appropriately with range for the available power and aperture product. A ‘6G’ modem and SATCOM terminal design to support symmetric Mbps/Gbps SATCOM links at LEO range is the notional baseline mode of operation. There will be flexibility in the modem to support multiple data rates that might be as low as 300 Mbps or as high as 20 Gbps using multiple waveforms.
Strategic Partners & Sponsors
Funding
TFWireless Inc is proudly supported by a customer development contract and the National Science Foundation (NSF SBIR/STTR program). The startup is a recipient of the NSF STTR Phase I award as well as the SBIR Phase II award. The seed project of the founder at NASA JPL was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK.
Strategic Partners
The startup is proud to partner with NASA JPL to develop the transformative wireless communications technology with funding from NSF. Specifically, the startup is working with the JPL Section 332: Communications Architectures and Research Section and few other JPL staff to develop the PHY layer rateless codec technology for proximity space links.
Standards
The startup is working to get the PHY layer rateless codec technology for LEO Optical links adopted to the CCSDS standards. The startup is periodically presenting its technology developments to the below working group within the CCSDS Space Link Services (SLS) area:
1. SLS Optical Communications Working Group
Engineering Team
Amogh Rajanna PhD
President & CTO
Algorithms development for Atmospheric Fade Mitigation (AFM) engine for Satellite-to-Earth (S2E) and Earth-to-Satellite (E2S) laser communications. AFM engine is based on Layer 2 (Link Layer) or Layer 1 (PHY Layer) fade mitigation techniques.
Eigen Labs
System-level simulations (Matlab and VPI Photonics) of S2E and E2S laser communication links with full transceiver path in a single analysis from electrical-to-optical (transmit) and optical-to-electrical (receive).
Morgan APS
FPGA IP core development of the AFM engine on AMD Versal SoCs. The IP core includes VHDL source code, FPGA netlist, Embedded C code, HDL simulation model and documentation.
JPL
System-level simulations (Matlab) of S2E and E2S laser communication links with added expertise in Framing and Protocol design for satellite laser communications.
Interested in Joining Our Team?
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Most modem vendors adapt existing terrestrial waveforms to satellite applications. We designed our patented AFM architecture specifically for the optical signal impairments of space atmospheric optical links. The result is an optical modem that dynamically adapts throughput to channel conditions without retransmission overhead, which matters significantly at LEO ranges and through atmospheric fade events.
Our AFM engine operates at Layer 1 and/or Layer 2 to maintain link continuity during atmospheric scintillation events due to index of refraction turbulence and pointing jitter. Rather than dropping to a fixed lower data rate, the system continuously adapts its effective code rate to the instantaneous atmospheric fading channel, enabling the spectral efficiency to match the achievable rate of the channel.
Our technology is available as a custom ASIC, an FPGA IP core targeting AMD Versal SoC platforms, or a Software Defined Radio implementation for edge baseband units. Customers with existing hardware can license the PHY layer IP core and integrate it into their own silicon or FPGA pipeline.
We work with LEO satellite operators, ground segment OEMs, hyperscalers building space-based data infrastructure, aerospace and defense primes, and semiconductor companies licensing PHY layer IP for next-generation SATCOM terminals.
We typically begin with a technical scoping call to understand the customer satellite’s link budget requirements, platform constraints, and integration timeline. From there, we can scope a customer-funded development agreement, an IP licensing agreement, or a co-development and supply agreement depending on the program’s needs.