Satellite communications

Satellite communication Intro

 A satellite is a body that moves around another body (Eg: Earth)

in a particular path.
 A communication satellite is nothing but a microwave repeater
station in space.
 It is helpful in telecommunications, radio and television along
with internet applications
 Satellite communication Intro cntd..

 A repeater is a circuit, which increases the strength of the

received signal and then transmits it.
 Repeater works as a transponder.
 Transponder changes the frequency band of the transmitted
signal from the received one.
Placing a satellite into orbit and operating it for 12 or more years
involves a great deal.

Placement in orbit is accomplished by contracting with a spacecraft

manufacturer and a launch agency

The time period from the beginning of designing the satellite to

construct it and to launch it roughly three years
 Satcom two main segments

 Space segment
 Ground segment
space segment
After the spacecraft is placed in the proper orbit, it becomes the
responsibility of a satellite operator to control the satellite for the
duration of its mission (its lifetime in orbit).
This is a fairly complex task and involves in both sophisticated
ground-based facilities as well as highly trained technical personnel.
The tracking, telemetry, and command (TT&C) station (or stations)
establishes a control and monitoring link with the satellite. Precise
tracking data are collected periodically via the ground antenna to
Allow the pinpointing of the satellite’s position and the planning of
on-orbit position corrections. That is because any orbit tends to
distort and shift with respect to a fixed point in space due to varying
gravitational forces from the non-spherical Earth and the pull of the
sun and moon.
Eventually, the on-board liquid or molecular propellant used for orbit
correction is exhausted and the satellite must be removed from
service.
 Ground Segment

The ground segment provides access to the satellite repeater from

Earth stations to meet communications needs of users
(television viewers, information network providers,enterprises,
disaster workers,and Web surfers).
Satellite Orbit Configurations
 Geo Orbiting satellites
Geosynchronous and Geostationary Satellites

A geosynchronous satellites remains in geosynchronous orbit

around earth with the same orbital as that of Earth.
Geosynchronous orbit appears at exactly the same spot in the
sky after a period of one sidereal day, when viewed from a
specific position on Earth.
Geosynchronous orbits that are circular in shape have a radius of
26,199 miles (42,164 km).

A geostationary orbit is a circular orbit located at an altitude of

35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) above Earth with zero
inclination to the equatorial plane. A geostationary satellite, has
an orbital period of one sidereal day (23 hours, 56 minutes and 4
seconds).
Geosynchronous and Geostationary
Satellites
GEO satellites
Factors affecting signal propagation

Atmospheric absorption
Rain attenuation
Atmospheric absorption
Rain attenuation
 Frequency Spectrum

L-Band 1.6/1.5 GHz

C-Band 6/4 GHz
Ku-Band 14/12 GHz
Ka-Band 30/20 GHz
Evolution of communication
satellites
Intelsat communication satellites
Parts of communication satellite
Parts of communication satellite
 Features of Satellite Networks

The most basic two-way satellite link provides point-to-point connectivity.

Point-to-multipoint (broadcast) connectivity delivers the same information over the
satellite coverage footprint.
Multipoint-to-point(interactive) connectivitysupportsa starnetworkof low-costVSATs.
 Transponder
a transparent microwave relay channel, that translate the frequency
from the uplink range to the downlink range
Hypothetical frequency plan illustrated for eight transponders
 Satellite footprints
The ground area that transponders offer coverage, and
determines the satellite dish diameter required to receive each
transponder's signal.

There is usually a different map for each transponder (or group of

transponders), as each may be aimed to cover different areas.

Footprint maps usually show either the estimated minimum

satellite dish diameter required or the signal strength in each area
measured in dBW.
Satellite footprints
 Spacecraft Antennas

Horn antennas are used extensively on commercial satellites. It

produces maximum power toward the subsatellite point and
tapers downward to become about 3 dB below the peak at the
edge of the Earth.
Antennas of this type are limited because the peak gain is only
about 20 dB, resulting in relatively low G/T and EIRP
performance.
Satellite beam forming network
 Earth stations
provide access to the space segment, interconnecting users with
one another and with terrestrial networks
Transmit EIRP
 Gain To noise Temperature (G/T )
figure of merit in the characterization of antenna performance
The sensitivity of a antenna function of
 antenna gain (G)
 system noise temperature (T)
T - the total system noise temperature
 sum of the noise generated in the receiving system
 the noise delivered from the antenna without strong signals
 includes the galactic background noise
 additional noise picked up by the antenna side lobes
Gain To noise Temperature (G/T )
 Types of earth stations
 Teleports ( provides long distance telecommunications )
 VSAT (Very small aperture terminals)
 TVRO / DBS receivers
 SNG (satellite news gathering)
 TTC& M
 Maritime
Types of earth stations
 Satellite link budgets

(1) A satellite downlink at 12 GHz operates with a transmit power

of 20 W and an antenna gain of 45 dB. Calculate the EIRP in
DBW.

(2) A satellite at a distance of 39,000km from the surface of earth

radiates a power of 20W from an antenna with a gain of 22 dB in
the direction of a VSAT with an effective aperture area of 10 m2.
Find:
(a) The flux density at the VSAT location.
(b) the power received by the VSAT antenna
 Satellite link budgets

(3) If the satellite operates at a frequency of 11 GHz and the Earth

Station antenna has a gain of 52.3dB. Determine the received
power?

(4) The desired carrier [EIRP] from a satellite is 36dBW, and the on-
axis ground station receiving antenna gain is 43dB, while the off-
axis gain is 25dB towards an interfering satellite. The interfering
satellite radiates an [EIRP] of 31dBW. The polarization
discrimination is assumed to be 4dB. Find the downlink Carrier to
Interference ratio (C/I)?
 Satellite link budgets

(5) An earth station has a diameter of 30 m, and an overall efficiency

of 69%. It is used to receive a signal of 4150 MHz. At this
frequency, the system noise temperature is 79 K when the antenna
points at the satellite at an elevation angle of 28˚.

a) What is the earth station G/T under these conditions?

b) If heavy rain causes the sky temperature to increase so that the

system noise temperature increases to 88 K what is the change in
G/T value?
 LINK BUDGET
The link budget determines the antenna size to deploy, power
requirements, link availability, bit error rate, as well as the
overall customer satisfaction with the satellite service.

A link budget is a tabular method for evaluating the power received

and the noise ratio in a radio link. It simplifies C/N ratio
calculations
Parameter Value

Downlink power budget

Pt – satellite transponder o/p power, 20 W

Bo – transponder output backoff 2dB

Gt – satellite antenna gain, on axis 20 dB

Gr – earth station antenna gain 49.7dB

LP – free space path loss at 4GHz 196.5dB

Lm – Misc losses 3.7dB

Pr = received power at earth station -119.5 dBW

Downlink noise power budget in clear air

k = Boltzmann’s constant -228.6 dBW/K/Hz

TS = system noise temperature, (75 K) 18.8 dBK

Bn = noise bandwidth (receiver bandwidth - 27MHz) 74.3 dBHz

N = receiver noise power -135.5 dBW

C/N ratio in receiver in clear air (Pr – N) -119.5 – (-135.5)