Re-entry communication through a plasma sheath using standing wave detection and adaptive data rate control

Radio blackout during the re-entry has puzzled the aerospace industry for decades and has not yet been completely resolved. To achieve a continuous data link in the spacecraft's re-entry period, a simple and practicable communication method is proposed on the basis that (1) the electromagnetic-wave backscatter of the plasma sheath affects the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of the antenna, and the backscatter is negatively correlated to transmission components, and (2) the transmission attenuation caused by the plasma sheath reduces the channel capacity. We detect the voltage standing wave ratio changes of the antenna and then adjust the information rate to accommodate the varying channel capacity, thus guaranteeing continuous transmission (for fewer critical data). The experiment was carried out in a plasma generator with an 18-cm-thick and 30-cm-diameter hollow propagation path, and the adaptive communication was implemented using spread spectrum frequency, shift key modulation with a variable spreading factor. The experimental results indicate that, when the over-threshold of VSWR was detected, the bit rate reduced to 250 bps from 4 Mbps automatically and the tolerated plasma density increased by an order of magnitude, which validates the proposed scheme. The proposed method has little additional cost, and the adaptive control does not require a feedback channel. The method is therefore applicable to data transmission in a single direction, such as that of a one-way telemetry system.