SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Picture Gallery

Satellite
What is satellite ??

Why we need satellite ??

History
Sat comm began in Oct 1957. - launch by USSR - called as Sputnik I - 1st artificial earth satellite - carries only transmitter Explorer 1 - launch by US from Cape Canaveral on Jan 31, 1958. ECHO I and II - launch by AT&T on Aug 12, 1960 and Jan 25, 1964. - Orbiting balloons 100 ft in diameter - Operate like radar reflector - very low orbit

 Telstar I and II - launched by Bell on July 10,1962 and May 7,1973. - low orbit - broadband real time transponder. On July 24, 1961, US President JFK defined the general guideline of US policy in regard to sat comm. On Dec 20, 1961, US congress recommended the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) The 1st successful geosynchronous comm sat developed by Comsat for Intelsat. - launched in Apr 6, 1965 remain until 1969. - routine operation betn US and Europe. - weighed mere 36 kg. - with 25 MHz bandwidth for each transponder. - using 6/4 GHz frequency.

 Canada was the 1st country to build the national telecomm syst using GEO satellite (Anik 1A launched in May 1974). 1970 and 1980s there was rapid development of GEO satellite syst for international, regional and domestic telephone traffic and video distribution
Inmarsat (International Maritime satellite Organization) had been recognized to provide service to ship and aircraft. With these spacecraft, the modern era of satellite communication had begun.

See attachment GEO satellite system

Satellites in Malaysia

MEASAT
Since 1996, MEASAT has provided reliable satellite solutions to customers across the Asia-Pacific region. MEASAT today owns and operates three satellites, MEASAT-1 (91.5E), MEASAT-2 (148E) and MEASAT3 also at (91.5E). providing high quality C-band coverage across South East Asia, into Greater China, South Asia, Australia and the United States. With satellites designed to cut through the high tropical rainfall, these satellites also provide DTH quality Kuband coverage into Malaysia, IndoChina, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia.

MEASAT SATELITE FLEET

MEASAT 1-C-BAND MEASAT 1-Ku-BAND MEASAT 2-C-BAND MEASAT 2-Ku-BAND MEASAT 3-C-BAND MEASAT 3-Ku-BAND

For Further details go to: http://www.measat.com.my

Others
Tiungsat 1 by ATSB Tiungsat RazakSat

INTRODUCTION
What is satellite comm?? is a syst in which an e/s transmit radio waves via antenna to a comm sat that has been put into orbit ~35800 km above the equator. How it operates?? sat rx radio signal then convert the freq, amplify the signal by on-board transponder and then send them back to an e/s in another country.

 What is satellite??
- is a celestial body that orbit around planet.
- space vehicle launched by human and orbits earth Act as relay station in space, enabling comm to take place betn countries separated from each other by vast distance. There are three main operation by the satellite:

1. receive signal 2. amplify 3. retransmit back the signal Sat comm operate in wide range of freq ranging from 1 GHz to 50 GHz.

Satellite Frequency Band

L Band 1 & 2 GHz S Band 2 & 3 GHz C Band 3.5 & 7.5 GHz Ku Band 11 & 14 GHz Ka Band 20 & 30 GHz

Satellite Positioning In GEO Orbit

Indian Ocean Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The signal emitted by a satellite can cover about 1/3 of the earth surface Therefore it is possible to cover the whole earth by positioning satellite in 3 regions.

Basic Terms
Apogee the point in an orbit that is located farthest from earth. Perigee the point in an orbit that located closest to the earth Major axis the line joining the perigee n apogee through the center of earth Minor axis the line perpendicular to the major axis halfway between the perigee and apogee. Angle of inclination the angle betn the earths equatorial plane and the orbital plane Ascending node - measured ccw at the point in the orbit where it crosses the equatorial plane traveling from S to N. Descending node - the point where an inclined orbit crosses the equatorial plane traveling from N to S. Lines of nodes line joining the ascending and descending nodes.

Satellite Orbits
There are 3 types of orbital paths:
i. ii. iii. Equatorial (0) Polar (90) Inclined (0- 180)

2 types of orbit rotations

i. Prograde/ posigrade orbit sat orbit same direction with earth n angular velocity greater than earth (s> e) ii. Retrograde orbit sat orbit opposite direction as earths rotation n angular velocity less than earth (s< e).

Satellite Elevation Categories

The orbits that basically used for communication are: i. ii. iii. iv. LEO Low Earth Orbit MEO Medium Earth Orbit GEO Geostationary Orbit HEO Highly Elliptical Orbit

Orbits Pros and Cons

LEO
World wide homogeneous with high elevation angle. High no. of sat. Low launch cost per sat. Large inbuilt syst reliability Small propagation delay (5 -15 ms gtg). Frequent handover (one every 5 10 min) Orbital height: less than 2000 km.

MEO
World wide homogeneous with minimum elevation angle. Limited no. of sat. High launch cost per sat. Higher propagation delay (75 -100 ms gtg). Frequent handover (one every 1 2 hours) Orbital height: 10300 km.

GEO
World wide coverage except polar region with 3 sat only. Low elevation angle. High launch cost per sat. small inbuilt syst reliability. Large propagation delay (250 ms gtg). Require large sat antenna. Orbital height: 35780 km.

Orbits Coverage
GEO

MEO

LEO

Satellite System
Consists of: i. Uplink ii. Downlink iii. Transponder (satellite)

Satellite System Uplink Model

Up- converter
Baseband signal

Modulator

BPF

IF

Mixer
RF

RF

BPF

HPA

Generator

At (e/s) transmitter

Satellite System Transponder Model

Frequency Translator
RF RF

BPF

LNA

Mixer
RF

BPF

TWT

Oscillator

At transponder in the satellite

Satellite System Downlink Model

Down-converter BPF LNA
RF

Mixer
RF

IF

BPF

Demodulator
Baseband out

Generator

At (e/s) receiver

Satellite Communication Architecture

Space Segment

Control Segment

Ground Segment

5
2
Gateway vsat

4
Hub

1. 2.

Interface station Intersatellite link User station Service station TTC station Network management station

Terrestrial Network User Terminal User Terminal

To/from service provider

3. 4. 5.

CONTINUED

The satellite communication architecture is composed of space segment, a control segment and a ground segment. Space segment- contains one or several active and spare sat organized in a constellation. Control segment consists of all ground facilities for the control n monitoring of the sat for management of the traffic n resource onboard the sat. Ground segment consists of all traffic e/s depending on the type of service considered.

Space Segment
Include the sat and also the ground facilities. Consists of - payload equipment used to provide the service. - bus - vehicle carries the payload and other systems. - power, altitude control, orbital control, thermal control and TT&C. Transponder equipment for communications satellite

- main section of payload

Satellite Subsystem
Power supply Altitude Control Station Keeping Thermal Control TT&C Communication Subsystem- transponder Antenna subsystem

Power Supply
Primary electrical power for operating the electronic equipment. Obtained from solar panel. Used array cells in series parallel connection to generate more power. Rectangular solar sails developed by Hughes Space (HS 601) designed to provide dc power from 2 to 6 kW. Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) and nickel-hydrogen (NiH2) batteries used as backup power supply.

Altitude Control
Orientation in space. To ensure that directional antennas point in the proper directions. The altitude control take place aboard the sat but it also possible for control signals to be transmitted from earth based on the data obtained from the sat.

Station Keeping
For GEO sat be kept in its correct orbital slot. The equatorial ellipticity of the earth causes GEO sat to drift slowly along the orbit. to counter the drift, an oppositely directed velocity component is imparted to the sat by jets which are pulsed once every 2 or 3 weeks.

Thermal Control
The sats equipment should operate as nearly as possible in the stable temperature environment. The radiation mirrors are used to remove heat from the comm payload. Used thermal blankets and shields to provide insulation. Heaters may be switched on to make up for the heat reduction which occurs when transponder are switched off.

TT&C
Telemetry, Tracking, Command and Monitoring (TT&C). Partly on sat and partly at the controlling e/s. The telemetry sends data derived from many sensors on the sat, which monitor the sats health (telemetry links). Tracking system at the e/s provides info on the range, the elevation and azimuth angles of the orbital elements. Based on the data from the telemetry, the control system is used to correct the position and altitude of the sat.

Antenna Subsystem
Antennas carried onboard provide dual fxns: rx the uplink signals and tx the downlink signals. Normally used dipole type where omnidirectionals characteristics are required for TV relays and broadcast. Paraboloidal reflector antenna is the most common used

Communication Subsystem
Composed of 1 or more antennas which rx and tx over wide range of freq. Rx and tx amplify and retransmit the incoming signal. Rx and tx units on the sat are known as transponder- main part of the comm subsystem.

CONTINUED -

Transponder

is the series interconnected units which forms a single comm channel between the rx and tx antennas in a comm sat. Example: The 500 MHz bw is divided up into channels, often 36 MHz wide, which are each handled by a separate transponder. (12 transponders). By making use of polarization isolation, this number can be doubled. Polarization isolation refers to the fact that the carries, which may be on the same freq but with opposite senses of polarization. It can be isolated from one another by rx antennas matched to the incoming polarization.

CONTINUED -

Transponder

Example: Linear Polarization => carriers are separated vertically and horizontally polarized. Circular Polarization => carriers are separated left hand circular and right hand circular polarization. Bcos the carriers with opposite senses of polarization can be overlap in freq, the use of bw can be doubled. This is called as frequency reuse.

Frequency reuse

EXAMPLE

From figure 7.13 in the handout, the uplink freq range is 5.925 to 6.425 GHz. The i/p filter passes the full 500MHz band to common rx while rejecting out noise and interference. Then passes through wideband rx b4 it is demultiplex into 12 channel transponder.

Figure Satellite Transponder Channel

Figure 7.13 in handout

Wideband Receiver
All the carriers within 500 MHz will be amplified and freq converted in the common receiver. The freq conversions shift the carriers to the downlink freq band which is also 500 MHz wide extending from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz. The amp adds little noise an in the same time provides sufficient amplification for the carriers to override the higher noise level present in the following mixer stage. The LNA feeds into mixer stage which also requires local oscillator to the mixer. The oscillator freq must be highly stable and low phase noise. The 2nd amp will amplify the carriers again and send the carrier to input demultiplexer.

Figure Wideband Receiver

Figure 7.14 in handout