VIT

U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

SCHOOL OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
B. TECH ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
FALL 2011
SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
ANSWER KEY

1. Define Apogee and Perigee.
Apogee Point farthest from the earth. (1)
Perigee Point nearest to the earth. (1)
2. What is the frequency range of C-band and Ka band?
C Band: 4 8 GHz (1)
Ka Band: 26 40 GHz (1)
3. What is Friis Formula and Modified Friis Formula?
F = F
1
+ (F
2
-1/ G
1
)+ (F
3
-1/ G
2
G
1
)+ (1)
T
e
= T
e1
+ (T
e2
/ G
1
) + (T
e3
/ G
2
G
1
) + .. (1)
4. a) What is the relation between power flux density at the receiving antenna and
EIRP?
b) Expand VSAT.
a) Power flus density = EIRP/(4r
2
) (1)
b) Very Small Aperture Terminal (1)
5. A mixer circuit has a noise figure of 12dB. It is preceded by an amplifier that
has an equivalent noise temperature of 200K and a power gain of 30dB.
Calculate the equivalent noise temperature of the combination referred to the
amplifier input.
Te = Te1 + (Te2/G1)
G1 = 1000 (0.25)
F = 15.85 (0.25)
Te2 = (F 1) * T = 4306.3K (0.5)
Te = 204.31K (1)
6. State Keplers first law of planetary motion.
The equation of the orbit is an ellipse (2)
7. Calculate the radius of a circular orbit for which the period is 1 day.
Radius = 42,241km (2)
VIT
U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

8. Define azimuth angle.

*
|

|
(

)
+
Azimuth angle can be found from:
Case-(i) Earth station is in the northern hemisphere
a) Satellite to the south east of the earth station

b) Satellite to the south west of the earth station.

Case-(ii) Earth station is in the southern hemisphere
a) Satellite to the North east of the earth station:

(d) Satellite to the North west the earth station

(2)
9. In most satellite TV receivers the first IF band is converted to a second fixed IF.
Why does this second frequency conversion required?
Easier to make filters, amplifiers and equalizers at an intermediate frequency
such as 1100MHz than at 14GHz or 11GHz. (2)
10. A satellite downlink at 12 GHz operates with a transmit power of 6 W and an
antenna gain of 48.2dB. Calculate the EIRP in dBW.
[EIRP] = 56dbW (2)
11. Define the following:
Line of Apsides,
Prograde orbit
Retro grade orbit,
Argument of perigee,
Descending node, and
Inclination angle.
Line of Apsides the line joining the perigee and apogee through the center
of the earth.
VIT
U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

An orbit in which the satellite moves in the same direction as the earths
rotation is called a prograde orbit. The inclination angle of a prograde orbit is
between 0 and 90.
A satellite in a retrograde orbit moves in a direction opposite to the earths
rotation, with an inclination angle between 90 and 180.
Argument of Perigee, the angle from ascending node to perigee,
measured in the orbital plane.
Descending Node the point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane,
going from north to south.
The inclination angle,
i
, is the angle between the orbital plane and the
earths equatorial plane. (6 x 1 = 6)
12. Derive the expression for carrier to noise ratio.
[

] [] [

] [] [] []
(6)
13. A QPSK signal is transmitted by satellite. Raised cosine filtering is used, for
which the roll off factor is 0.2 and a bit error rate of 10
-5
is required. For the
satellite downlink, the losses amount to 200dB, the receiving earth-station G/T
ratio is 32dBK
-1
, and the transponder bandwidth is 36MHz. Calculate (a) the bit
rate which can be accommodated, (b) the EIRP required.
a) Bit Rate = 60Mbps
Bit Rate in dB = 77.78dBbps (3)
b) [E
b
/N
o
] = 9.6dB
[C/N
o
] = 87.38dBHz
[EIRP] = 26.8dBW (3)
14. An uplink operates at 14 GHz, and the flux density required to saturate the
transponder is -120dB (W/m
2
). The free space loss is 207 dB, and the other
propagation losses amount to 2dB. Calculate the earth-station EIRP required for
saturation, assuming clear sky conditions. Assume RFL is negligible.
[A
o
] = -44.37dB (3)
[EIRP
S
]
U
= 44.63dB (3)
VIT
U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

15. Explain the operation of a GPS Receiver with necessary diagrams.
Position Calculation Explanation (1.5)
Correcting the Receivers Clock Explanation (1.5)
Structure Explanation (1.5)
Demodulation and Decoding (1.5)
16. Three amplifiers 1, 2 and 3 have the following characteristics:
F1 = 9dB G1= 48dB
F2= 6dB G2 = 35dB
F3 = 4dB G3 = 20dB
The amplifiers are connected in tandem determine which combination (123,
132, 231, 213, 321, 312) gives the lowest noise factor referred to the input?
F1 = 7.943 F2 = 3.98 F3 = 2.51 (1)
G1 = 63095.73 G2 = 3162.27 G3 = 100 (1)
123 F = 7.943 (1.5)
132 F = 7.943 (1.5)
231 F = 3.981 (1.5)
213 F = 3.9822 (1.5)
321 F = 2.5398 (1.5)
312 F = 2.5794 (1.5)
Amplifiers 3, 2, 1 combination will have lowest noise factor (1)
17. Derive the expressions for elevation angle, azimuth angle and the condition for
the satellite to be visible from the earth station.
Derivation for Elevation angle
() (

) (

) (

) (

) (

)
(

) ()

*
( )

+ (4)
Derivation for azimuth angle

*
|

|
(

)
+
Azimuth angle can be found from:
Case-(i) Earth station is in the northern hemisphere
VIT
U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

a) Satellite to the south east of the earth station

b) Satellite to the south west of the earth station.

Case-(ii) Earth station is in the southern hemisphere
a) Satellite to the North east of the earth station:

(d) Satellite to the North west the earth station

(4)
Derivation of the condition for the satellite to be visible from the earth

()

()

)
The value of central angle

so that the satellite will be visible. (2)

18. Explain the indoor and the outdoor unit of home DBS Television Receiver.
Outdoor Unit
Diagram (2.5)
Explanation (2.5)
Indoor Unit
Diagram (2.5)
Explanation (2.5)
19. Explain the satellite stabilization methods for attitude control.
Spin Stabilization Method Explanation (5)
Three Axis Stabilization Method Explanation (5)
(Or)
20. Explain the TT&C subsystem with a neat diagram.
Diagram (5)
Explanation (5)
VIT
U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

21. A ground station located at 45N and 90W is receiving the transmission from a
DBS at 101W. The EIRP is 55dBW, and the downlink frequency is 12.5GHz.
Transmission at the full capacity is at the rate of 40 Mbps. An 18-in-diameter
antenna is used with an efficiency of 0.55. Miscellaneous transmission losses
are of 2dB. For the IRD, the equivalent noise temperature at the input to the
LNA is 100K, and the antenna noise temperature is 70K. Calculate the look
angles for the antenna, the range, and the E
b
/N
0
at the IRD.
Central Angle = 46.043
0

Elevation Angle = 37
0

Intermediate Angle = 15.37
0

Azimuth Angle = 195.37
0

Range = 38,019.1km (5)
[

] [

] [

]
[

] [] [

] [] []
[] []
[] (

r Range
T = T
eq
+ T
ant

( )

D Diameter
[]
[]

T = 170K
[G/T] = 10.64dBK
-1

[

]
[

]
*

+ (5)
(Or)
VIT
U N I V E R S I T Y
(ESTD. U/S 3 OF UGC ACT 1956)

22. What are all the three basic implementations in VSAT and explain its network
architectures?
One way Implementation
Diagram (1.5)
Explanation (1.5)
Split two Way Implementation
Diagram (1.5)
Explanation (1.5)
Two Way Implementation
Star Topology
Diagram (1)
Explanation (1)
Mesh Topology
Diagram (1)
Explanation (1)