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Satellite Communications Tutorial

J P Silver

E-mail: john@rfic.co.uk

1 ABSTRACT
This tutorials discusses the key areas of satellite
communications, discussing the various elements of a
satellite communications system eg antennas, path
loss etc. The communication system elements can
then be connected together and analysed to deter-
mine a link budget.
2 FREQUENCIES FOR MICROWAVE
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
The frequencies used for microwave satellite communi-
cations are determined by
(i) the absorption of the atmosphere as a function of
frequency
(ii) the antenna size needed to produce a beam with the
required angular spread
(iii) international agreements/regulations
2.1 ATMOSPHERIC ABSORPTION
Figure 1 & Figure 2 indicates the average atmospheric
absorption as a function of frequency at different alti-
tudes above sea-level and the effects of rain and fog.
Note that the figures cover different frequency ranges.
Note 1. The first graph shows resonant absorption
peaks due to different molecules in the atmosphere at
particular frequencies. Usually these frequencies are
avoided for communications applications, though in
special cases they may be deliberately used so that the
signal will not propagate beyond a certain range - eg
covert military signals, or mobile communications where
the limited frequency range available means that the
same frequency must be re-used many times in different
communication cells.

Figure 1 Average atmospheric absorption of millimeter waves. A: Sea level ; T = 20˚C; P = 760mm; PH2O = 7.5g/m3. B : 4
km; T = 0˚C; PH2O = 1g/m3 .
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- see below for the allocation from 4990 to 7075MHz.

Allocation to Services
Region 1 Region 2 Region 3
4990 – 5000 FIXED
MOBILE except aeronautical mobile
RADIO ASTRONOMY
Space Research (passive)
795
5350 – 5255 RADIOLOCATION
Space Research
713 798
5650 – 5725 RADIOLOCATION
Amateur
Space Research (deep space)
664 801 803 804 805
5725 – 5850
FIXED SATELLITE
(Earth-to-space)
RADIOLOCATION
Amateur
801 803 805
806 807 808
5850 – 5925 5850 – 5925 5850 – 5925
FIXED FIXED FIXED
FIXED-SATELLITE FIXED- FIXED-
(Earth-to-space) SATELLITE SATELLITE
MOBILE (Earth-to-space) (Earth-to-space)
Figure 2 Atmospheric absorption of millimeter
MOBILE MOBILE
waves due to fog and rain. 806 Amateur Radiolocation
Note 2 The second graph covers a much broader fre- Radiolocation 806
806
quency range, from microwave to optical and beyond. It 5850 – 5925 FIXED
shows that although rain and fog increase the attenuation FIXED-SATELLITE
of microwave signals the attenuation is still considerably (Earth-to-space)
less at the lower microwave frequencies (up to 15GHz, MOBILE
791 809
for example) than at optical frequencies, so that micro-
wave frequencies will maintain communication links Note:
and remote sensing observations under conditions where • Region 1: Europe, Africa, N Asia; Region 2: N &
optical links will fail. S America; Region 3: rest of Asia
• Upper case entries eg FIXED indicate a definite
2.1.1 Antenna size allocation for the service in the frequency band.
The basic (approximate) relationship between wave- Lower case entries show services that may be al-
length and antenna size is θ (radians) ≈ λ D where lowed.
• Numbers - such as 795 - refer to regulations which
θ is the angular breadth of the main beam between the apply to the frequency band.
3dB points and D is the maximum dimension across the
antenna aperture. An aperture of 10 wavelengths will
give a beamwidth of about 6°. At low frequencies the 2.3 ORBITING AND GEOSTATIONARY
wavelength is large, implying a large antenna. As the SATELLITES
frequency increases the antenna size reduces for a given
beamwidth but the attenuation of the atmosphere in-
2.3.1 Orbiting satellites
creases. A compromise must be made. Note that at-
mospheric attenuation is not a problem for satellite-to-
• lower orbits - cheaper to launch. Eg remote sensing
satellite links, so these may involve mm-wave frequen-
satellites at about 800km altitude (about 1/8 earth ra-
cies and very small antennas.
dius).
• not available all the time for communication links
2.2 INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS • ideal for collecting data - eg remote sensing - trans-
The use of different frequency bands for different appli- mitting data back periodically to fixed earth sta-
cations has been agreed through various international tions. Earth coverage obtained by rotation of earth
agencies beneath satellite.
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• receive antennas must track satellite • Data:

• lower coverage than geostationary
radius of orbit: 42 000km (about 7 times earth radius)
altitude: 36 000km
2.3.2 Geostationary satellites
orbital period: 24hours
• occupy fixed position with respect to earth above
the equator - no tracking required
• 3 satellites provide coverage for most of earth's sur-
face (not polar regions)
3 LINK BUDGET

PT .G T Isotropic power ie
2 x 36,000 x 1000
= 0.24 Sec 4π .R 2 If TX transmits as a
3 x 10 8 sphere.

GT Rx
Tx Effective area = Aeff
GR
PT
PR

PT .G T
Received Power 4π .R 2

PT GT Aeff The link attenuation α in dB is given by

PR =
4πR2
⎛ 4πR ⎞ ⎛⎜ 1
2

⎛ ⎞ ⎞
Aeff is the receive antenna effective area α = 10 log⎜ PT ⎟ = 10 log
⎝ PR ⎠
⎜ λ ⎟ ⎜⎝ G G ⎟⎟
R⎠
⎝ ⎠
T

4 π Aeff
General antenna relationship: G =
λ2 ⎛ 4πR ⎞
⎛ λ ⎞
2 = 20 log⎜ ⎟ − GT [dB ] − G R [dB ]
⎝ λ ⎠
PR = PT G T G R ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ 4πR ⎠
The first term is called the free space loss - due to the
GR is the Rx antenna gain spreading of the radiation, not absorption.

PT GT is the Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP).

It gives a measure of the power flux. For each satellite
contours of constant EIRP can be plotted on the earth's
surface. A minimum value of EIRP is required for each
type of receiver (eg DBS). Usually the EIRP is given in
units of dBW - EIRP[dBW] = 10log10 ( PT GT ) .
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− 116[dBW] = PT [dBW]+ 30 + 40 − 203− 5

3.1 DBW (DECIBEL WATTS)
∴ PT dBW = 22dBW = 159W
Link budget calculations are often carried out using
powers measured in dBW. The power is measured rela-
and EIRP = 22 dBW + 30dB = 52 dBW
tive to a 1 watt reference power.

Power in dBW = 10 log

Power in Watts 3.3 ANTENNA BEAMWIDTH AND GAIN
1 Watt The satellite antenna beamwidth must correspond to the
area of the earth to be illuminated. This determines the
⎛ 4πR ⎞ gain of the antenna. The earth station antenna must be
PR [dBW ] = EIRP[dBW ] + G R [dB] − 20 log⎜ ⎟ able to select a particular geostationary satellite - the
⎝ λ ⎠
satellite spacing in the crowded parts of the geostation-
ary orbit is about 2°, though there may also be frequency
Corrections must be added to PR for additional losses discrimination between neighbouring satellites. The
due to following approximate results for a circular aperture
antenna may be used to estimate suitable antenna sizes
1. antenna efficiency - power is lost in the antenna and gains.
feed structure, also in connections to the receiver
2. atmospheric absorption due to water and oxygen
πD
( )
2
molecules G =η
3. polarisation mismatches of Tx and Rx antennas λ
4. antenna misalignments - ie boresights of Tx and
η is the antenna efficiency, typically 0.6 to 0.7, D is the
Rx antennas not aligned
antenna diameter

An additional loss factor L is introduced to the link θ 3dB = 70 λ D

budget equation to take account of these losses. The
equations become
the 3dB beamwidth in degrees of the antenna.

( )λ 2
1
P R = PT GT G R
4πR L
3.4 SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE

( )
For satisfactory operation a communication link must
4πR
PR [dBW ] = PT [dBW ] + GT [dB] + G R [dB]− 20 log − L[dB] have:
λ
1. a large enough signal for the receiver sensitivity,
Typically L is about 5dB. and
2. a high enough S/N ratio or BER at the receiver
3.2 LINK BUDGET CALCULATION output for good quality communication
eg for TV reception international regulations re-
Calculate the power that must be transmitted from a geo- quire a S/N ratio ≥ 47dB
stationary satellite to give a power of -116dBW (2.5 ×
10-21 W) at a receiver on the earth. Assume f=10GHz, Information is conveyed by modulating a high frequency
carrier with a message signal. The basic quality of a link
G R = 40dB , GT = 30dB and additional losses of is expressed in terms of its carrier to noise ratio C/N
5dB. where C is the power for the unmodulated carrier and N
is the noise power, both measured at the receiver input.
R = altitude = 36000km The signal to noise ratio for an information signal - ie a

( )
modulated carrier - depends upon both the C/N ratio for
4πR
PR [dBW ] = PT [dBW]+ GT [dB]+ G R [dB]− 20 log − L[dB] the link and the type of modulation used - ie AM, FM,
λ FSK, PSK etc.

The noise power associated with the link is specified by
the system noise temperature Ts. This is made up from
three contributions:
1. antenna noise TA
2. antenna - receiver connection - a cable or
waveguide TC
3. receiver noise TR this may include RF,
mixer and IF stage contributions
In each case the noise power in watts (this is the avail-
able noise power) is calculated from the noise tempera-
3.5 ANTENNA NOISE TEMPERATURE TA
Antenna Noise Power
NA = kTA.B
PR
Radiation into the
Back lobes from the
surface reflections
Figure 3 Antenna noise temperature as a result of other noise sources including galactic and other satellites.
Referring Figure 3, the antenna noise is due to energy,
which is fed to the antenna by unwanted radiation
sources, such as stars and galaxies and other communi-
cation signals. (The latter are not strictly noise signals
in that they will not be random, but their effect on the
communication link will be the same as for noise - ie
they will worsen the S/N ratio and so they are included
here.) Also, the atmosphere itself behaves as a resistive
medium, which supplies noise power to the antenna.
The output noise power from the antenna N A = kTA B
will depend on the positions and temperatures and emis-
sivities of the noise sources and the gain and polar radia-
tion pattern of the antenna.
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ture (which must be in degrees K, ie absolute tempera-
ture) using the general relationship
available noise power = kTB
where k is Boltzmann's constant and B
is the bandwidth. k = 1.38 × 10-23 J K-1
A useful figure to remember is that at 290K the available
noise power density is -174dBm/Hz
satellite
Other RF sources eg
satellites,galactic
sources etc
Ground wave
Earth surface
3.5.1 Antenna pointing to the sky (ground station
antenna)
In this case the output noise power from the antenna has
two components which are represented by the sky tem-
perature, Tsky , and the earth temperature Tearth
Tsky is due to noise originating in the atmosphere. It
varies with frequency and the elevation angle E of the
antenna. The sky temperature is higher for E=0° (an-
tenna pointing to the horizon) because of the longer path
of the radiation through the atmosphere. Elevation an-
gles of less than 10° are usually avoided. The two dia-
grams Figure 4 and Figure 5 show Tsky for different
frequency ranges.
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Radiation into the

Back lobes from the
surface reflections

For a large (≈5m) Cassegraine antenna Tearth ≈ 10K

For a small (≈ 0.5m) antenna Tearth ≈ 100K

Figure 4 Antenna sky noise temperature as a func- If an antenna points towards the Sun the noise effective
tion of frequency and antenna angle.
temperature is about 10 000K. This situation should be
avoided.

3.5.2 Antenna pointing to the earth

Usually the beamwidth is less than or equal to the angle
subtended by the earth, so that the earth fills the beam.
Then the noise temperatutre of the antenna is about
290K, the physical temperature of the earth.

3.6 ANTENNA-TO-RECEIVER CONNECTING

CABLE
Although it is a passive element the cable or waveguide
that connects the antenna to the receiver has a noise tem-
perature TC which, contributes to the system noise tem-
perature. A passive component with an insertion loss L
has
Figure 5 Sky noise for clear air and 7.5 g/m3 of water
vapour concentration (φ is the elevation angle)

For E ≥ 10° and f ≤ 15GHz Tsky ≤ 40K. RX

Tearth arises from radiation which feeds into the antenna IL = L (eg 2dB) gain = 1/L
via the back lobes of the antenna radiation pattern.
Noise figure F = L ∴ effective noise temperature

Te =T0 (L−1) and Gain G = 1/L

Tc = To (F-1) = 290(L-1) Where, To = 290K

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3.7 RECEIVER NOISE Tm Tif

TR = Trf + +
Receiver noise includes contributions from thermal Grf Grf Gm
noise, shot noise and possibly flicker noise. These may
arise in the input RF section of the receiver, the mixers Figure 6 shows typical equivalent noise temperatures
used for frequency translation and the IF stages. A and figures for various devices, which may be used in
schematic diagram of a simple receiver and its equiva- microwave receivers.
lent noise circuit is shown below. The total receiver
noise figure TR can be calculated from the individual 2000

contributions from the usual formula for cascaded cir- 1500 8

7
cuits.
1000 Mixer
6

TR =To (FR −1) FR is the receiver noise figure 700 5

500 Tunnel diode Amplifier 4

Equivalent noise temperature (K)

FET
In the schematic receiver shown in Figure 7. 300 Amplifier 3

Noise figure (dB)

200 Bipolar 2
Transistor
Tm Tif 150
amplifier
1.5
TR = Trf + +
Grf Grf Gm 100
70 1.0
50 Uncooled
Note: This formula follows from the corresponding for- Parametric amplifier
30
mula for the noise figure Ftotal for cascaded stages, 20 0.25
F − 1 F − 1
= F1 + 2 + 3 + ... with
15
Ftotal 10 Cooled parametric amplifier
G1 G1G2
7 0.125
each noise figure replaced by its equivalent effective
noise temperature using T e=To (F −1) .
0.2 0.4 0.6 1 2 4 6 10 20 40 60 100

Frequency (GHz)

Example
Figure 6 Typical equivalent noise temperature and
LNA (low noise amplifier) noise figures of various devices

Trf = 50K Grf = 23dB [Grf = 200]

Mixer
Tm = 500K Gm = 0dB [ Gm = 1]

IF stage

TIF = 1000K GIF = 30dB [ GIF = 1000]

500 1000
∴ TR = 50 + + = 50 + 2. 5 + 5 = 57.5 K
200 200 × 1

Usually, the mixer has conversion loss eg

suppose Gm = − 10dB ∴ Gm = + 0.1

500 1000
∴ TR = 50 + + = 50 + 2. 5 + 50 = 102. 5K
200 200 × 0 .1
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L.N.A I.F
Amplifier
TA Mixer I.F Filter
Tc

Antenna cable Gain = Gm

Gain = Grf Noise = Tm
Noise = Trf
Gain = Gif
Noise = Tif
LO

Receiver

Noise equivalent circuit

Trf

Tm Tif
Gain Grf Gm Gain Gif

___
___ RX
___ TR

Figure 7 System setup including the antenna, antenna cable feed and receiver. The gains and noise temperatures are de-
fined throughout the system.

3.8 SYSTEM TEMPERATURE

If we consider the system temperature for a combination TS = (TA +TC ) L+ TR
of the antenna and the receiver with a receiver tempera- (ie at receiver input use noise temperature x gain)
ture of 102.5K:

Antenna + Receiver TA ⎛ L−1 ⎞

= +290⎜ ⎟+TR
L ⎝ L ⎠
RX
TA TR Using the figures above,

50 ⎛ 1.58−1 ⎞
Therefore, TS = TA + TR TS = + 290⎜ ⎟ +102.5= 240.6K
1.58 ⎝ 1.58 ⎠
TS = TA + TR = 50 + 102.5 = 152. 5K
ie. adding cable with 2dB IL increases TS from 152.5
If we now add a cable with IL 2dB [⇒ IL = 1.58] be- to 240.6K. This illustrates the very significant effect
tween the antenna and the receiver: attenuation at the input has on noise. For this reaon the
LNA is often connected directly to the receive antenna.
TC = 290 F − 1 = 290 L − 1

Then, the system temperature at the receiver input

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3.9 C/N RATIO AT RECEIVER OUTPUT

GT Satellite
Rx Transponder
Tx Gain = G
GR Cu

PT uplink
PR Ld = Dielectric Loss

R ˜ C = Carrier power
Nv

⎛ λ ⎞ 1
2
Cd at receiver
= (PT + G T ).GR .⎜ ⎟ .
⎝ 4π .R ⎠ L

⎛ λ ⎞ 1
2

From before: PR =(PT GT )G R ⎜ ⎟ Power at earth station/Power at

⎝ 4πR ⎠ L satellite down link output

If system temperature is TS (includes antenna noise TA ,

Figure 8 Schematic of the RF uplink and downl link
cable and receiver noise) signal path

Noise power (single link) at receiver input is

received down-link carrier power
N = kTS B Free space loss
Cd = Cu G Ld
⎛ GR ⎞ ⎛ λ ⎞ 1 1
2

∴
C
(link ) = PR = PT GT ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎜ ⎟
total received down-link power
N kTs B ⎝ T s ⎠ ⎝ 4πR ⎠ L kB
N = N u G Ld + N d
EIRP
(Tx) Bandwidth Here N u is the uplink noise at the transponder (satel-
⎛ GR ⎞
⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ is the receiver figure of merit. lite). N d is the noise added to the down link.
⎝ TS ⎠
N N G Ld + N d N Nd
Usually the down link is the most critical due to the lim- Hence, = u = u +
ited power which is available on board the satellite ( PT ) Cd Cu G Ld Cu Cd
and the antenna gain GT (limited by its size). Hence,
and so
the most critical receiver is the earth station

eg Intelstat ground station (C N )total =

1
⎛ GR ⎞ (C N ) uplink
-1
+(C N )downlink
-1

⎜⎜ ⎟⎟=40.7 dBK −1 at 4 GHz

⎝ TS ⎠
The analysis above applies to a single link - ie up-link or
down-link, but information transmitted via satellite in-
volves both links. With reference to Figure 8 the total
C/N ratio for the two links can be found as follows:
Because of the limited power available on the satellite
for the downlink the C/N ratio for this link is usually
lower than that for the uplink, and this is the main de-
termining factor for the overall C/N ratio.
The total C/N ratio is also reduced by interference on
each link, and intermodulation distortion in the trans-
ponder, so a more complete expression is
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(C N )total = 1 TV signals and/or computer signals. They are transmit-

(C N )uplink+(C N )
-1 -1
+(C I )
downlink
-1
uplink
+(C I )
-1
+(C N )
downlink
−1
intermods
ted by modulating a carrier signal in some way - AM,
FM, PM (analogue), or ASK, FSK, PSK etc (digital). In
a multicarrier system the different messages are com-
Calculations using the above relationships apply to clear bined for transmission by multiplexing. The converse
air propagation conditions, but allowance has to be process of demultiplexing is carried out at the receiver
made for additional attenuation and noise which may be
introduced on each link due to rainfall or other possible The multiplexing techniques used are
meteorological conditions. The margin that must be
allowed depends upon the required reliability (eg link i) Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) - each
maintained for 99.99% of time, averaged over one year) message is placed in a different frequency range by
and the range of climatic conditions which are predicted modulating a different carrier frequency. All the mes-
along the link. The margins also vary with frequency sages are combined for transmission.
and the angle of elevation. Typical margin values are
2dB (C band) and 8dB (Ku band). Each satellite link will have a certain bandwidth. The
bandwidth may be divided into sub-bands with different
4 MODULATION AND MULTIPLEXING sub-bands assigned to each earth station. The figure
below shows a set of satellite transponders for (a) a C
TECHNIQUES band and (b) a Ku band system.
Each earth station will, in general, be transmitting and The C band transponder uses a single down converter
receiving many messages simultaneously to and from a (D/C) and signal processing at 4GHz, whereas the Ku
satellite. The messages may be 'phone calls, ratio and
band system uses D/C to 1GHz for signal processing be fed together to the HPA (high power amplifier) for
followed by up-conversion (U/C) for the down-link. amplification.
Each sub-band will contain many messages, which will
Frequency DEMUX

6GHz 4GHz
Frequency MUX

L.N.A

DC

H.P.A

C-Band Transponder
Figure A

Equilizer

Multiple Transponders

1GHz 11GHz

1GHz
Frequency DEMUX

14GHz 11GHz
Frequency MUX

L.N.A

DC

U/C’s H.P.A
KU-Band Transponder
Figure B

Equilizer Multiple Transponders

Figure 9 Schematic of two satellite transponders. The top one is a C-Band system and the one on the bottom is a Ku-
Band system. HPA = High power amplifier; DC = Downconverter; U/C = Upconverter.
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In the C band 6/4GHz transponder (Figure 9 A): Non-linear Distorted fo,

saturation 2fo, 3fo etc
Vout
• the uplink is at the higher frequency, so D λ is
greater for the (common) receive/transmit antenna –
it will have a higher gain
• the input filter is a fairly wideband band-
pass‘roofing’ filter to allow all the uplink frequen-
cies in, but eliminating out-of-band noise
• LNA – low noise amplifier
• D/C – down converter to 4GHz (the down-link fre-
quency) for signal processing – error correction,
amplification, signal channelling etc. Vin

• frequency demultiplexing – divides input signal into

sub-bands to reduce non-linear distortion during
amplification. Each sub-frequency band is proc-
essed by a single transponder.
• equalisers – correct for phase differences between
the different frequency components of a signal
which are introduced by filters, de-multiplexers etc
• HPAs – high power amplifiers – to increase power
levels before re-transmission on the down-link.
Non-linear performance in the HPAs can intoduce
harmonics, intermodulation distortion etc
• band-pass filters at various points remove out-of-
band products from the HPAs etc and reduce the
background noise, but they cannot remove in-band
products – eg 3rd order intermodulation (IM) prod-
ucts
The Ku (14/11GHz) system (Figure 9 – B) has many of
the same elements, but the down-link frequency
(11GHz) is too high for the elements in each trans-
ponder, so the input is mixed down from 14GHz to
1GHz for de-multiplexing and equalisation, then mixed
up to 11GHz for power amplification, frequency MUX
and re-transmission.
Pure sinewave
fo
Figure 10 The diagram shows the non-linear (in the
saturation region) Vout vs vin curve for an ampli-
fier. If a sine-wave is applied to the input the non-
linearity will distort the amplified output sinewave
as shown.
Intermodulation can be reduced using back-off, as
shown in Figure 11 Figure 11. The input signal signal
power is reduced to move below the non-linear segment
of the characteristic. The amount of back-off can be
expressed in terms of either the input signal back-off or
the output signal backoff. A disadvantage of using
back-off is that it reduces the efficiency of the amplifier
because the RF output from the amplifier is reduced
whilst it is still consuming the same DC power.
Saturation - IMD
PSAT
Output
power
backoff

4.1 NON-LINEAR BEHAVIOUR IN HPAS

Because each transponder will be processing a very Pout
large number of messages simultaneously any non-
linearity in the transponder amplifier will lead to inter-
modulation which causes interference between the mes-
sage signals by transferring modulations from one fre-
quency range to another. The diagram Figure 10 shows
Pin Back off
a non-linear amplifier voltage transfer characteristic and
the way in which it leads to signal distortion. The dis-
tortion is normally represented in terms of additional Figure 11 shows how distortion can be reduced by backing
off the input signal from the saturation region to the linear
harmonics of the input signal, which are introduced by
region.
the amplifier. The non-linearity may also be represented
in terms of the amplifier power transfer characteristic, The amount of back-off needed to avoid intermodulation
which also shows the saturation and saturation power of increases with the number of messsages (ie modulated
the amplifier. carriers) in the signal which is applied to the trans-

ponder. One solution is to increase the number of trans-
ponders on board the satellite so that each need only
handle a restricted bandwidth and number of carriers.
This, of course, increases the satellite mass, so a suitable
compromise must be reached between the number of
transponders and the intermodulation.
Back-off modifies the formula for the down-link C/N
ratio by making : PT = Pos − BOo
Where, Pos is the output power of the HPA at satura-
tion and BOo is the output backoff power . Pos is
normally known for a given amplifier, then BOo is
adjusted dynamically according to the strength of the
input signal.
Solid state amplifiers are superior to TWT amplifiers in
their linearity. Considerable attention has been devoted
to techniques for linearising HPAs to improve their effi-
ciency. This involves extending the linear part of the
power amplifier characteristic.
ii) Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) - each message is
transmitted at a different time. TDM is usually used
with digitally coded messages. Whereas with FDM each
message is transmitted continuously using a restricted
bandwidth, with TDM each message is only transmitted
for a small fraction of the available time, but during that
time it uses all the available bandwidth.
Clearly, a system must be established to regulate the
timeslots for each message. This scheduling will itself
require the communication of earth stations via the satel-
lite which imposes a network management overhead on
the available bandwidth/transmission time. An appro-
priate balance must be struck between the complexity of
the 'housekeeping' of the communication system and the
useful communication capacity.
An advantage of TDM is that intermodulation distortion
can be avoided, because only one message is being am-
plified at any one time.
iii) Code Division Multiplex (CDM) - each message
includes a unique code which means that TDMA can be
used with different signals being transmitted simultane-
ously - the code allows the elements of the different
messages to be grouped correctly. CDM uses a very
wide bandwidth and so this technique is sometimes also
known as a spread spectrum technique.
4.2 MULTIPLE ACCESS
Multiple access refers to the fact that many earth stations
share the same satellite. Signals from several earth sta-
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tions may arrive simultaneously at the satellite antenna
from which they are fed to the transponder which will
process the signals in several ways - eg amplification,
error detection and correction, filtering and frequency
changing - before feeding the signals back to the satellite
antenna for the down link. The uplink and the down
link operate at different frequencies to avoid direct cou-
pling of signals from the transmit to the receive channels
eg 6/4GHz (C band), 14/11GHz Ku band). The higher
frequency is used for the up-link because the satellite
antenna has limited size and a higher noise temperature
(usually 290K). The gain is higher at the upper fre-
quency for a fixed antenna size.
Similarly, the signals transmitted from a satellite will
usually be received by all the earth stations. Most of the
messages received will not be needed by a specific earth
station - they must be filtered out during de-
multiplexing. In a typical analogue system a trans-
ponder may have a bandwidth of 36MHz, but this will
be subdivided into 12 sub-bands, each with a bandwidth
of 3MHz. When an earth station receives messages
from its vicinity via the PSTN network it sorts them out
into their destination earth stations. All the messages for
a particular earth station are combined to one sub-band
for the uplink. They are all processed by the satellite
transponder and transmitted to the earth stations, but
each earth station will only process its own sub-band.
As noted earlier, multiplexing and modulation are sepa-
rate processes and so various combinations of the differ-
ent techniques available for each can be used. Accord-
ing to Glover and Grant, the predominant multiplex-
ing/modulation/multiple access technique in current use
for PSTN satellite telephony is FDM/FM/FDMA, but
this leads to large intermodulation products. Increas-
ingly, digital modulation (PCM) is replacing analogue
techniques, leading to TDM/PSK/TDMA.
With the systems described so far the communication
capacity between different earth stations is essentially
'designed in' when the bandwidths assigned to each sta-
tion are fixed, and changes cannot easily be made even
if demand changes. Capacity can be increased, and
made more flexible, by
i) using multiple spot beams that can be steered as
required to different points on the earth's surface, and
ii) by using a switching matrix on board the satellite
to co-ordinate the message transmission with the beam
direction.