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EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

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UNIT I SATELLITE ORBITS

9
Kepler’s Laws, Newton’s law, orbital parameters, orbital perturbations, station keeping,
geo stationary and non Geo-stationary orbits – Look Angle Determination- Limits of
visibility –eclipse-Sub satellite point –Sun transit outage-Launching Procedures -
launch vehicles and propulsion.

UNIT II SPACE SEGMENT AND SATELLITE LINK DESIGN

11
Spacecraft Technology- Structure, Primary power, Attitude and Orbit control,
Thermal control and Propulsion, communication Payload and supporting subsystems,
Telemetry, Tracking and command. Satellite uplink and downlink Analysis and Design,
link budget, E/N calculation- performance impairments-system noise, inter modulation
and interference, Propagation Characteristics and Frequency considerations- System
reliability and design lifetime.

UNIT III SATELLITE ACCESS

10
Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice, Data, Video, Analog – digital transmission system,
Digital video Brocast, multiple access: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, Assignment
Methods, Spread Spectrum communication, compression – encryption

UNIT IV EARTH SEGMENT

8
Earth Station Technology-- Terrestrial Interface, Transmitter and Receiver, Antenna
Systems TVRO, MATV, CATV, Test Equipment Measurements on G/T, C/No, EIRP,
Antenna Gain.

UNIT V SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

10
INTELSAT Series, INSAT, VSAT, Mobile satellite services: GSM, GPS,
INMARSAT, LEO, MEO, Satellite Navigational System. Direct Broadcast
satellites (DBS)- Direct to home Broadcast (DTH), Digital audio broadcast (DAB)-
Worldspace services, Business TV(BTV), GRAMSAT, Specialized services – E –mail,
Video conferencing, Internet.

TOTAL= 45 PERIODS

TEXT BOOKS:
1. Dennis Roddy, ‘Satellite Communication’, McGraw Hill International, 4th
Edition, 2006.
2. Wilbur L. Pritchard, Hendri G. Suyderhoud, Robert A. Nelson, ‘Satellite
Communication Systems Engineering’, Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2007.
 EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
UNIT I

The need for the satellite communication:

1) Communication over a long distance, overland is possible as natural limitations such
as mountains, cities, oceans etc are no problems for satellites.
2) Global coverage is possible in the satellite communication system. i.e., it is possible
to communicate simultaneously with the users who are geographically spread over a
wide area on the earth. This suggests that a point-to-multipoint communication is
possible. With just three repeaters (i.e., satellites), it is possible to cover whole the
earth’s surface except some areas at and around the polar regions.
3) Since other terrestrial communication systems are overcrowded with traffic, we
require going for a substitute, which could be a satellite communication system.
4) With the help of the satellites the mobile communication becomes much easier and
more efficient i.e., we can easily and efficiently communicate with the ships in
the mid oceans, with the aircrafts in the mid sky, with the cars and trucks moving etc
through the satellites.
5) With the help of the satellites we can easily and efficiently study the weather changes.

Kepler’s laws that govern the orbital motion of a satellite:

1) Kepler’s first law: The orbit of a satellite is an ellipse with the center of the earth at
one focus.
Satellite Elliptical orbit

Earth
Perigee

Apogee Semimajor axis, a

Semiminor axis, b

2) Kepler’s second law: The line joining the center of the earth and the satellite
sweeps equal areas in equal time intervals.
Satellite Elliptical orbit

A1
Earth
Perigee
Apogee
A1=A2
A2

2
3) Kepler’s third law: The square of the orbital period of a satellite is proportional to
the cube of its mean distance from the center of the earth. Since the mean distance
3 2
in an elliptical orbit is the semimajor axis, a, a =(/n ) where  is the earth’s
14 3 2
geocentric gravitational constant (3.986005  10 m /sec ) and n is the mean
angular motion (velocity) of the satellite, which is related to the orbital period of
the satellite, ts as ts=(2/n).

Newton’s laws and the equation of motion:

ms
r
me

r1 r2

Let
me=mass of the earth,
ms=mass of the satellite,
r=distance of the satellite from the center of the earth,
r1=distance of the center of the earth from a fixed origin
O, r2=distance of the satellite from a fixed origin O,
F1=force of attraction exerted on the earth by the satellite,
and F2=force of attraction exerted on the satellite by the earth.
According to Newton’s second law of motion, the force exerted by a body is equal
to the product of its mass and acceleration. Thus,
2 2
F1=me(d r1/dt ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(1)

and
2 2
F2=ms(d r2/dt ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(2)

According to Newton’s third law of motion, the force of attraction exerted on the
earth by the satellite i.e., F1 must be equal but opposite to the force of attraction exerted
on the satellite by the earth i.e., F2. Hence,

F1=F2

3
 According to Newton’s law of gravitation, the force of attraction between any
two bodies is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional
to the square of the distance between them. Thus,
2
F1=F2=(gmemsr*)/r -----------------------------------------------------------------------------(3)

where
g=universal gravitational constant, and
r*=unit vector in the direction of r.
Substituting r*=r/r in Equ(3), we have
3
F1=F2=(gmemsr)/r -------------------------------------------------------------------------------(4)

From Equ(1) and Equ(4), we have

2 2 3
me(d r1/dt )=(gmemsr)/r
2 2 3
(d r1/dt )=(gmsr)/r -----------------------------------------------------------------------------(5)

From Equ(2) and Equ(4), we have

2 2 3
ms(d r2/dt )=(gmemsr)/r
2 2 3
(d r2/dt )=(gmer)/r ---------------------------------------------------------------------------(6)

Subtracting Equ(5) from Equ(6), we have

2 2 2 2 3
(d r2dt )(d r1/dt )=[g(me+ms)r]/r
2 2 3
(d (r2r1)/dt )=[g(me+ms)r]/r
2 2 3
(d r/dt )=(r)/r -------------------------------------------------------------------------------(7)

where r=r2r1, from the knowledge of vector analysis, and =g(me+ms)gme since
mems and Equ(7) is called the equation of motion.

Orbital parameters or elements:

Definition of terms:
1) Apogee: Apogee is the point on the orbit farthest from the earth’s
center. 2) Perigee: Perigee is the point on the orbit closest to the earth’s
center.
3) Line of apsides: Line of apsides is the line joining the apogee and perigee through
the earth’s center.
4) Ascending node: Ascending node is the point where the orbit crosses the
equatorial plane when going from south to north.
5) Descending node: Descending node is the point where the orbit crosses the
equatorial plane when going from north to south.
6) Line of nodes: Line of nodes is the line joining the ascending and descending
nodes through the earth’s center.

4
7) Mean (angular) motion or velocity: The mean (angular) motion or velocity of a
satellite is defined as n=2/ts where ts is the orbital period of the satellite.

The six orbital parameters or elements:

1) Semimajor axis, a: The semimajor axis, a is one half the distance between the
apogee and perigee.
2 (1/2)
2) Eccentricity: The eccentricity, e of an ellipse is defined as e=[1(b/a) ] .
3) Mean anomaly, M: Mean anomaly, M is the arc-length in radians that the satellite
would have traversed since the perigee passage if it were moving in a circular path at
the mean angular velocity, n.
4) Argument of perigee, W: Argument of perigee, W is the angle from the ascending
node to the perigee, measured in the orbital plane at the earth’s center in the
direction of motion of the satellite.
5) Inclination, i: Inclination, i is the angle between the equatorial plane and orbital plane.
It is measured at the ascending node from the equator to the orbit, going from east
to north.
6) Right ascension of the ascending node,: Right ascension of the ascending node,
is the angle measured eastward in the equatorial plane at the earth’s center from the
line of
Aries to the line of nodes.
Perigee

Descending node

Equatorial plane


i
Line of aries 
Ascending
node Line of nodes

Orbital plane Orbital elements

Orbital perturbation:
The earth is not a perfect sphere of uniform and the gravitational pull by the earth is
not the only force exerted on the satellite.
(i) Effect of the earth’s oblateness: In fact, the earth has an equatorial bulge
(about 65m) and a flattening (about 20m) at the poles. Such a shape is known as oblate
spheroid.
This equatorial bulge affects the mean angular velocity, n of the satellite causing
the geostationary satellite to drift toward stable points either of two at the longitude
o o
75 E or 105 W.

5
 The earth’s oblateness also produces two rotations of the orbital plane. By first of these known as “regression o f nodes” the nodes seem to slide along the equator. In effect, the line of nodes (which is in the equatorial plane) seems to rotate about the earth’s center, thus changing the value of the
right ascension of the ascending node, . For a prograde orbit, the nodes seem to slide westward along the equator whereas for a retrograde orbit, the nodes seem to slide eastward along t he equato r. Hence, t he nodes seem to appear at a position earlier than it should have.

Stable
o E
point 75 E

o
0

Semistable W
point 165o E

Semistable
65-m Equator o
point 15 W
bulge

Stable
o
point 105 W

The second effect is t he rot ation o f t he line o f apsides (which is in t he o rbit al plane) about t he eart h’s center. This rot ation changes t he value o f t he argument o f perigee, .
The rat e changes o f and can be given by

2 2 2
(ddt)=[(nK1cosi)/a (1e ) ]
2 2 2
(ddt)=[nK1(22.5sini)/a (1e ) ]

where K1=a constant, i=inclination, n=the mean motion, a=Semimajor axis, e=eccentricity.
The flattening at the poles does not show any significant effect on the
geostationary
satellite.
(ii) Effect of equatorial ellipticity: Beside the oblate spheroidal shape, the earth is
not perfectly circular in the equatorial plane. It has some eccentricity at the equator. This is
called the equatorial ellipticity. This equatorial ellipticity produces a gravitational
gradient, which causes the geostationary satellite to drift toward either of the two stable
points in the orbit.
(iii) Effect of gravitational pull by the moon and sun: Beside the earth’s gravitational
pull, the gravitational pull by the moon and sun causes the geostationary satellite to
drift away from its stationary orbit to a new orbit. That is the orbit of the geostationary
satellite becomes inclined to the equatorial plane. This inclination increases at a rate of
o
1 /year.

6
 (iv) Effect of atmospheric drag: The earth’s atmospheric pull or drag is effective on
the low-orbit (orbit1000Km) satellites. This atmospheric drag reduces the mean motion
of the satellite especially at the perigee. This effect prevents the satellite from reaching
the same apogee height on the successive revolutions. That is, the atmospheric drag
reduces the altitude of the low-orbit satellites.

Perigee Apogee
Earth

Atmosphere

Station-keeping:
The process of keeping a geostationary satellite in its orbital slot is termed as
the station-keeping.

East-west station-keeping:
It is important that a geo-stationary satellite be kept in its correct orbital slot.
The equatorial ellipticity of the earth causes geostationary satellites to drift slowly along the
orbit, to one of two stable points, at 75° E and 105 ° W. To counter this drift, an oppositely
directed velocity component is imparted to the satellite by means of jets, which are pulsed
once every 2 or 3 weeks. This results in the satellite drifting back through its nominal
station position, coming to a stop, and recommencing the drift along the orbit until the
jets are pulsed once again. These maneuvers are termed east-west station-keeping
maneuvers.

North-south station-keeping:
A satellite which is nominally geostationary also will drift in latitude, due to
the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon. These forces cause the inclination to
change at a rate of about 0.85 ° /year. If not corrected, the drift would result in a cyclic
change in the inclination, going from 0 to 14.67 ° and back to zero, once in every in 26.6
years. To prevent the shift in inclination, jets may be pulsed at the appropriate time to
return the inclination to zero. Counteracting jets must be pulsed when the inclination is at
zero to halt the change in inclination. These maneuvers are termed north-south station-
keeping maneuvers, and they are much more expensive in fuel than are east-west station-
keeping maneuvers.

Geostationary and non-geostationary orbits:

(i) Geosynchronous and geostationary orbit: A geosynchronous Earth orbit is a
prograde orbit whose orbital period is equal to Earth’s rotational period. A geostationary
orbit
7
is the geosynchronous orbit, which lies in the equatorial plane that contains the equator.
Such a satellite seems to be fixed at one point above the earth’s surface when viewed
from the earth. Three conditions are required for an orbit to be geostationary: 1) The
satellite must travel eastward at the same rotational speed as the earth, 2) The orbit must be
circular and 3) The inclination of the orbit must be zero.

(ii) Non-geostationary orbits:

Prograde orbit: Prograde orbit is the orbit in which the satellite moves in the
same direction as the earth rotates about its axis. The inclination of a prograde orbit
o o
always lies between 0 and 90 .
Retrograde orbit: Retrograde orbit is the orbit in which the satellite moves in
the direction opposite to the earth’s rotation about its axis. The inclination of a retrograde
o o
orbit always lies between 90 and 180 .
HEO (High Elliptical Orbit): It is an elliptical orbit approximately 18, 000 to 35, 000
km above the earth’s surface, not necessarily above the equator. An HEO satellite is
a specialized orbit in which a satellite continuously swings very close to the ear th, loops
out into space, and then repeats its swing by the ear th. HEOs are designed to give
better coverage to countries with higher northern or southern latitudes.
MEO (Medium Earth Orbit): An MEO is a circular orbit, orbiting approximately 8,000
to 18,000 km above the earth’s surface, again not necessarily above the equator. An MEO
satellite is a compromise between the lower orbits and the geosynchronous orbits.
MEO system design involves more delays and higher power levels than satellites in the
lower orbits. However, it requires fewer satellites to achieve the same coverage.
LEO (Low Earth Orbit): A LEO is an orbit around the earth in grids that
stretch approximately 160 to 1,600 km above the earth’s surface. The LEO satellites are
small, are easy to launch, and lend themselves to mass product ion techniques. A
network of LEO satellites typically has the capacity to carry vast amounts of facsimile,
electronic mail, batch file, and broadcast data at great speed and communicate to end users
through terrestrial links on ground-based stations.

Look angle determination:

The azimuth and elevation angles, collectively called the look angles. The look
angles are the coordinates to which an earth station antenna must be pointed to
communicate with a satellite. The azimuth angle, az is the angle at which the earth station’s
disk is pointing at the horizon, whereas the elevation angle, e is the angle by which the
antenna bore sight must be rotated to lock on to the satellite.
Let
h be the altitude of the satellite,
re be the radius of the earth,
r be the altitude of the satellite i.e.,
re+h, be the coverage angle,
the shadowed spherical portion be the coverage area,
e be the elevation angle,
d be the slant range,
c be the central angle,
LET be the latitude of the earth
station, LSAT be the latitude of the
satellite and
be the difference in longitude between the earth station and the
satellite. Using the spherical trigonometric relations, the elevation is determined to
be

8
 
cos  cos LET   re r 
e cos  1 cos 2  cos 2 L deg
1

  ET


and the azimuth angle, to be

az  180  a for earth station in northern hemisphere & satellite in east of station
az  180  a for earth station in northern hemisphere & satellite in west of
station az a for earth station in southern hemisphere & satellite in east of
station
az  360  a for earth station in southern hemisphere & satellite in west of station
where
a= tan 1  t n  (or alternatively) a  sin 
 sin
a L ET 
 
1 cos 2
 cos2 LET 


h /2
d

e

D Acov

c
re

For the Southern Hemisphere azimuth angle, the 180-term is deleted. The
magnetic heading of the antenna can be expressed as

 H az   z

where  is the deviation, as the angle between true North Pole and the North magnetic Pole.
9
Hint for sign of latitude & longitude:
N (+)

W (–) E(+)

S (–)
Example: A geostationary satellite is located at 90° W. Calculate the azimuth &
elevation angles for an earth station antenna at latitude 35° N and longitude 100° W.
o
Assuming a deviation angle of 3.3 , calculate the compass heading that the antenna
would be pointing to. (Ans: 162.9 deg, 48 deg and 159.6 deg.)

Limits of visibility:
There will be east and west limits on the geostationary arc visible from any given
earth station. The limits will be set by the geographic coordinates of the earth station
and the antenna elevation. The lowest elevation in theory is zero, when the antenna is
pointing along the horizontal. A quick estimate of the longitudinal limits can be made
by considering an earth station at the equator, with the antenna pointing either west or east
along the horizontal, as shown in the above figure. The limiting angle, with a non-zero
elevation, is given by

h /2
d

e

D Acov

c
re

c=18090e(/2)=90e(/2)=90[e+(/2)]
1
cosc=sin[e+(/2)]=sin{e+sin [recose/(re+h)]}

10
 1 1
c=cos {sin{e+sin [recose/(re+h)]}}

Coverage angle: In any triangle ABC such as one shown above,

A
c
b

B C
B C
a

[(sinA)/a]=[(sinB)/b]=[(sinC)/c] --------------------------------------------------------------(1)
2 2 2
a =b +c 2bc cosA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------(2)

Using the above theorem (1), we have

[sin(/2)]/re=[sin(e+90)]/(re+h)=[cose/(re+h)]

sin(/2)=[re/(re+h)]cose
1
(/2)=sin {[re/(re+h)]cose}
1
=2 sin {[re/(re+h)]cose} ------------------------------------------------------------------(3)

Coverage area: The surface area of the shadowed spherical portion is the coverage area
Acov of the satellite. That is

Acov=2reD

But, D=rerecosc=re(1cosc)
2
Acov=2re (1cosc)

c=18090e(/2)=90e(/2)=90[e+(/2)]
1
cosc=sin[e+(/2)]=sin{e+sin [recose/(re+h)]}
2 1
Acov=2re {1sin{e+sin [recose/(re+h)]}} ----------------------------------------------(4)

Slant range: Using theorem (2), we have

2 2 2
d =re +(re+h) 2re(re+h) cosc
2 2 2
d =re +(re+h) 2re(re+h)sin{ecose/(re+h)]}

11
 2 1 1/2
d={re +(re+h)2re(re+h)sin{e+sin [recose/(re+h)]}} --------------------------------(5)

Example: A geostationary satellite is located at 90° W. For an earth station antenna at

latitude 35° N and longitude 100° W. Calculate the coverage angle, coverage area and
2
slant range. (Ans: --- deg, --- Km and 37,215 Km.)

Example: Determine the limits of visibility for an earth station situated at mean sea level,
at latitude 48.42 degrees north, and longitude 89.26 degrees west. Assume a minimum
o o
angle of elevation of 5 degrees. (Ans: 20 W deg and 158 W deg.)

Why should the altitude of a geosynchronous or geostationary satellite be 36,000km?

The orbital period t s of a geosynchronous satellite must be one sidereal period of
the earth i.e., 23h, 56m, 4.09s. If re is the earth’s radius and h is the altitude of the satellite,
then, we have
3
ts={2[(re+h) /]}
where =gme, g=gravitational constant and me=mass of the earth.
Hence,
2 2 1/3
h=(ts /4 ) re
5 3 2
Substituting =3.986x10 Km /s , re=6378.1555Km and
ts=(23x60x60)+(56x60)+4=86164s in the above equation, we have
5 2 2 1/3
h=[(3.986x10 x86164 )/4 ] 6378.1555 km

h=42164.1256378.155=35785.97 km.

Round trip delay:

Round trip delay is defined as the time required for a RF signal to travel from the
earth station to the satellite and back to the earth station. That is

td=2(d/c)

where d=slant range, c=speed of light.

Advantages of the geostationary satellite:

1) Since the satellite is stationary with respect to one point on the earth, the earth
stations need not to track the satellite periodically. The earth station antenna can be
accurately aimed towards the satellite. This eliminates the need for a rotatory
antenna and consequently reduces the cost.
o
2) With a minimum elevation angle of 5 , a geostationary satellite can cover 38% of
the earth’s surface.
o
3) Three geostationary satellites (120 apart) can cover the entire earth’s surface except
o o o
for the polar regions beyond 75 N and 75 S, assuming a 5 minimum elevation.
4) Since the satellite is relatively stationary to the earth station, the effect of the
Doppler shift is minimum.

12
Earth Eclipse of Satellite:
The earth eclipse of a satellite is the time when the earth comes inbetween the sun
and the satellite depriving the satellite from the solar power. Since the earth’s equatorial
o
plane is tilted at an angle of 23.4 to its orbital plane, the satellite is kept in the full view of
the sun for the most days of the year as shown in the following figure.
Around the spring and autumnal equinoxes, when the sun is crossing the equator,
the satellite does pass into the earth’s shadow at certain periods falling in eclipse.
Eclipses begin 23 days before equinox and end 23 days after equinox. The eclipse
lasts about 10 min at the beginning and end of the eclipse period and increases to a
maximum duration of about 72 min at full eclipse.
Since, during an eclipse, the solar power is not available, the operating power must
be supplied from the on-board batteries. If the satellite longitude is east of the earth
station, the satellite enters the eclipse during the daylight (and early evening) hours for the
earth station. This is undesirable since the satellite has to operate on the reduced on-board
battery power. If the satellite longitude is west of the earth station, the eclipse occurs when
the earth station is in the darkness. Thus satellite longitudes which are west of the
earth station are more desirable.

Sun Transit Outage:

During the equinoxes the transit of the satellite between earth and sun is such that the
sun comes within the beamwidth of the earth station antenna. When this happens, the sun
appears as an extremely noisy source which completely blanks out the signal from the
satellite. This effect is termed sun transit outage, and it lasts for short periods each day
for about 6 days around the equinoxes. The occurrence and duration of the sun transit
outage depends on the latitude of the earth station. The typical maximum outage time is 10
min.

Subsatellite point:
The point on the earth vertically under the satellite is referred to as the
subsatellite point.

13
Sun Transit Outage:
Another event which must be allowed for during the equinoxes is the transit of
the satellite between earth and sun (see Fig. 3.8), such that the sun comes within the
beamwidth of the earth station antenna. When this happens, the sun appears as an extremely
noisy source which completely blanks out the signal from the satellite. This effect is
termed sun transit outage, and it lasts for short periods each day for about 6 days around
the equinoxes. The occurrence and duration of the sun transit outage depends on the
latitude of the earth station, a maximum outage time of 10 min being typical.

Launching Procedures:
Escape velocity:
Escape velocity is the velocity required for an object to escape from the earth’s
surface into infinity. This requires that the kinetic energy of the object be equal to its
potential energy. For an object on the earth’s surface, this means that
2
(1/2)msveo =(gmsme/re)

where ms=mass of the object, me=mass of the earth, veo=escape velocity,

g=universal gravitational constant and re=radius of the earth. Hence,

veo=(2gme/re)=(2/re) -------------------------------------------------------------------------(1)

where =gme.

Placement of a satellite in a geostationary orbit:

The placement of a satellite in a geostationary orbit involves many complex
sequences and is shown schematically in the following figure.
Initially, the satellite is injected onto a low-earth orbit often called a parking
orbit whose altitude usually chosen to be about 300Km from the earth’s surface. The
injection is carried out eastward so as to make the earth’s rotational velocity help the
transfer. The injection of the satellite onto the low-earth orbit is carried out either by an
expendable launch vehicle or a space transportation system (STS) otherwise called space
shuttle. The last stage of most of the expendable launch vehicle is a payload assist module
(PAM) or a perigee kick motor (PKM). The elliptical transfer orbit is chosen such that its
perigee distance is the radius of the parking orbit and its apogee distance is the radius of
the destination orbit, which is, in this case a geostationary orbit. When the satellite is at
the perigee of the transfer orbit, the PKM is fired to put the satellite in the transfer orbit.
Once the satellite is in the transfer orbit, the satellite is dual-spin stabilized so that the
ground control can communicate with its TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking and Command)
system. When the orbit and altitude of the satellite have been determined and the satellite is
at the apogee of the transfer orbit, the apogee kick motor (AKM) is fired to circularize the
orbit. This circular orbit would be the geostationary orbit if the satellite had been launched
o
from a site situated at 0 latitude (i.e., at the equator). If the satellite had been launched
from a site situated at some other latitude 1, this circular orbit would be a synchronous
orbit with an inclination i greater than or equal to the latitude of the launch site 1. This
inclination i equals 1 if the injection at the perigee is horizontal.
Since the radius a1 of the parking orbit is 6678.23Km (a1=re+h=6378.2+300) and that
a2 of the geostationary orbit is 42,164.2Km, the Semimajor axis aT of the transfer orbit is

aT=(a1+a2)/2=(6678.2+42.164.2)/2=24,421.1Km.
Since aT(1eT)=a1 and aT(1+eT)=a2, the eccentricity eT of the transfer orbit is

14
eT=(a2a1)/(a2+a1)=(42164.2-6678.2)/(42164.2+6678.2)=0.78.

The required velocity increment vp at perigee to place the vehicle in the
correct transfer orbit can be computed from the equation
1/2 1/2
vp=[(/a1) ]{[2a2/(a1+a2)] 1}
5 3 2
where gme=3.986x10 Km /s .
Apogee

va=1.47 Km/s

Synchronous orbit

a2=42164.2 Km

Transfer orbit

Parking orbit
a1 =6678.2 Km

Semimajor axis of Earth

transfer orbit aT =24421.1 Km vp =2.43 Km/s
Transfer period tT =18990.3 s
Perigee

Placement of satellite in geosynchronous orbit

vp=2.43Km/s.

The required velocity increment va at apogee to circularize the orbit can be
computed from the equation
1/2 1/2
va=[(/a2) ]{12a1/(a1+a2)] }

va=1.47Km/s.

The transfer period t T, the time required to transfer the vehicle from the orbit of
radius a1 to that of radius a2, is half the period of revolution of a body in the elliptical
transfer orbit. That is
3 1/2
tT=(aT /) =18990.3s.

Inclination correction: Since either at the ascending or descending node, the sum of
the node velocity vector vn and the incremental velocity vector v required to correct
the

15
inclination is a velocity vector v in the equatorial plane, the inclination correction can
be made at the ascending or descending node where the orbit intersects the equatorial plane
with an incremental velocity v. The inclination correction is shown schematically
in the following figure.
Descending node

vn
v

i
v
Ascending node

Equatorial plane
The magnitude of v required to correct the inclination is
2 2
v=(vn +v 2vnv cosi)

If the line connecting the perigee and apogee is the line of nodes and the
inclination correction is made at the apogee in conjunction with the orbit circularization, then

vn=va

v=vs
2 2
v=(va +vs 2vavs cosi)

where va is the velocity of the vehicle at apogee and vs, that in the geosynchronous
orbit. Since

va={[(2/a2(1/aT)]}=1.6078Km/s

and

vs=(/a2)=3.0747Km/s
o
for an inclination of 28 , v=1.82Km/s.

16
Launch vehicles and propulsion:
The fundamentals of rocket propulsion:
Motion of a rocket in a gravity-free space:
At some initial instant t, let the velocity of the rocket with respect to an
inertial reference frame (the launch pad) be vrp and the mass of the rocket be m. Then,
the initial momentum of the system with respect to the inertial reference frame (the launch
pad) is Pi=mvrp --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)

vrp ver

vep
The rocket is supposed to have gained a velocity increment dvrp with respect to
the inertial reference frame (the launch pad) by ejecting an amount, dm of its mass in a
time interval dt. After the time interval dt, the velocity of the rocket is vrp+dvrp and its
mass, mdm. If the velocity of the exhaust gases with respect to the inertial reference frame
(launch pad) is vep, then at time t+dt, the momentum of the system is

Pf=(mdm)(vrp+dvrp)+vep dm --------------------------------------------------------------------(2)

However, the velocity of the exhaust gases with respect to the launch pad, by
the principle of the relative motion, is given by

vep=vrp+ver -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(3)

where ver is the velocity of the exhaust gases with respect to the rocket. Hence, we have

Pf=(mdm)(vrp+dvrp)+(vrp+ver)dm -------------------------------------------------------------(4)

By the law of conservation of momentum, we have

Pf=Pi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(5)

(mdm)(vrp+dvrp)+(vrp+ver)dm=mvrp

mvrp+mdvrpvrpdmdmdvrp+vrpdm+verdm=mvrp

Cancelling out the common terms, we have

mdvrp+verdmdmdvrp=0

If we take the limit as dt0, the product dmdvrp can be neglected. Hence, we have

mdvrp+verdm=0

17
mdvrp=verdm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------(6)

dvrp=verdm/m

Integrating the above equation, we have

(vrp)f mf
dvrp=ver(dm/m)
(vrp)i mi

(vrp)f(vrp)i=verln(mf/mi)

(vrp)f(vrp)i=verln(mi/mf) ----------------------------------------------------------------------(7)

vrp=verln(mi/mf) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------(8)

where (vrp)i=velocity of the rocket at some initial time t, (vrp)f=velocity of the rocket at
time t+dt, vrp=velocity increment achieved by ejecting a mass i dm=m mf, m =mass of the
rocket at time t, mf=mass of the rocket at time t+dt (This equalsi the mass at time, t minus
the mass ejected in time interval dt.), (mi/mf)=mass ratio, ver=velocity of the exhaust
gases, which is also called the exhaust velocity of the rocket.
So far, the mass ejected per second (dm/dt), the exhaust velocity ver and hence the
thrust given to the rocket has been assumed to be constant.
To achieve a velocity increment equal to the exhaust velocity, the mass ratio to
be realized is

ver=verln(mi/mf)

(mi/mf)=e=2.718.

Hence, to achieve a velocity increment greater than the exhaust velocity, a mass
ratio greater than e=2.718 has to be realized.
Another important parameter in rocket design is the specific impulse I defined as

I=[thrust/(gravity x fuel-mass flow rate)]=ver/g ----------------------------------------------(9)

since thrust=ver(dm/dt).

Motion of a rocket in a gravitational field:

Let the rocket be ascending in a straight line against a constant gravity, g. Then,
the change in momentum in time dt due to g is mgdt. Hence, Equ(6) becomes

mdvrp=verdmmgdt -----------------------------------------------------------------------------(10)

dvrp=verdm/mgdt.

Integrating the above equation, we have

vrp=verln(mi/mf)gt -----------------------------------------------------------------------------(11)

18
 However, g varies with height as
2
g=go(re/r) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(12)

where re=earth’s radius, r=distance from the earth’s center.

Therefore,

vrp=verln(mi/mf)g(h)dt -----------------------------------------------------------------------(13)

where h is the rocket’s height above some reference point (e.g., the earth’s surface) and
hence a function of time.
Since g is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the earth’s
center, the rocket should ascend vertically as fast as possible to minimize the gravitational
losses. In other words, a faster fuel-mass flow rate is required in addition to a high mass
ratio and/or a high exhaust velocity to increase the rocket velocity and hence the
maximum attainable distance. However, the rocket is required to ascend vertically through
the atmosphere as slow as possible to minimize the drag losses. Hence, a flight path for
the rocket, which very quickly bends away from the vertical until a horizontal
trajectory is followed, is to be adopted. If an atmosphere is present, this bending must be
delayed so that the rocket does not build up high speed in the lower and denser atmospheric
regions.

Launch vehicles and their performance:

The launch vehicles are broadly classified into two types: (i) expendable
(not recoverable) launch vehicles and (ii) reusable space transportation system (STS) or
space shuttle.

19
 (i) Expendable launch vehicles: The expendable launch vehicles are multistage
rockets with liquid or solid propellant. The jettisoned parts (those which are empty of fuel)
of these vehicles are not recoverable for reuse as they burn up while reentering the
atmosphere. Let us discuss in detail a three-stage expendable launch vehicle named Ariane.
This was developed by the European Space Agency. The following figure shows the
simplified diagram of Ariane.
The first stage consists of four Viking V engines with UDMH and N2O4 propellants
in two identical tanks providing an initial thrust of approximately 2,500 kN on the ground.
The second stage consists of a single Viking IV engine providing a thrust of
approximately 800 kN in the vacuum. The third stage consists of a single HM7-type
engine providing a thrust of approximately 62 kN in the vacuum.
With a special structure called SYLDA shown in Fig. 19, Ariane is capable of
placing two independent satellites in the orbit simultaneously. SYLDA is a load-carrying
structure comprising a conical adapter, which carries the lower satellite inside a shell and
the upper satellite on the top of the attachment.

The two satellites are separated in the following sequence. With the engine cut off,
the third stage is oriented in the direction required by the upper satellite and spun up if
required. The connecting bolts are pyrotechnically cut, separating the upper satellite.
Then the third stage is oriented in the direction required by the lower satellite and spun up
if required and the supporting part of the upper satellite is separated. The lower satellite is
separated in the same way as the upper satellite.
(ii) STS or space shuttle: The space shuttle developed by NASA consists of three
main parts: (i) the orbiter, which caries the payload, the crew and the main engine, (ii) two
reusable solid rockets and (iii) an expendable external tank, which carries the fuel and the
oxidizer.

20
 At lift-off, a thrust of approximately 28,500 kN is developed together by the
external tank and the two solid rockets. The solid rockets are burnt out approximately 2
minutes after the lift-off and at an altitude of approximately 45 Km. The spent rockets are
jettisoned and recovered for reuse. The external tank becomes empty approximately 8
minutes after the lift-off and at an altitude of approximately 65 nautical miles and is
jettisoned. The external tank burns up as it reenters the atmosphere.

Firing two 27 kN-thrust liquid rocket engines for approximately 2minutes, the orbiter
is placed in the parking orbit. The orbiter can remain in the parking orbit for a nominal
mission of 7 days. After the completion of mission, two 27 kN-thrust liquid rocket engines
are fired for approximately 95 minutes. This initiates the reentry of the orbiter into the
atmosphere. While reentering the atmosphere, the orbiter experiences a surface
o
temperature greater than 2,000 F. The heat is absorbed in the special ceramic tiles that
cover the most of the surface of the orbiter. After the reentry into the atmosphere, the
orbiter coasts without power and lands like a glider.
The space shuttle has many advantages over the expendable launch vehicles such
as Ariane, Delta etc. The space shuttle has a larger payload capability. Almost all the
parts of the space shuttle except the external tank are reusable.

21
 EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
UNIT II
Spacecraft subsystems:
A spacecraft primarily consists of four subsystems, namely (I)
communications subsystem which is otherwise termed as payload of the spacecraft, (II)
attitude and orbit control subsystem, (III) telemetry, ranging and command (TR&C) or
telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) subsystem and (IV) power subsystem.
Communication subsystem

Attitude control subsystem

Beacon track signals

Uplink communication signals

Communication Communication
repeater Downlink communication signals
subsystem antennas
Command-ranging signals
TT&C or TC&R
subsystem Telemetry-ranging signal

Power subsystem

(I) Communication subsystem:

Communication subsystem consists of (1) communications antennas and
(2) communications repeater, which is otherwise termed as transponder.
(1) Communications antennas: Main types of antennas used in a spacecraft are (i)
wire antenna (both monopole and dipole), (ii) horn antennas (rectangular horn, conical
horn, or conical corrugated horn), (iii) reflector antennas and antenna arrays.
(i) Wire antennas: Wire antennas are primarily used at VHF and UHF for TT&C
system. They are used for omni directional coverage.
(ii) Horn antennas: Horn antennas are used at microwave frequencies to achieve
0
wide beams for global coverage. With horn alone, beamwidth less than 10 cannot be
achieved.
(iii) Reflector antennas and antenna arrays: To achieve better gain through
narrow beams, reflector antennas illuminated by horn arrays are used. For maximum gain,
the wave at the aperture should be a plane wave. This is achieved by choosing the reflector
profile that has equal path lengths from the feed to the aperture so that all the energy
radiated by the feed and reflected by the reflector reaches the aperture with same phase
angle and creates a uniform plane wave. Horn and reflector antennas are aperture
antennas, which launch a wave into free space from a waveguide.
The concept of using the same frequency band to transmit different carriers is called
the frequency-reuse. The frequency reuse can be achieved through either spatial
isolation or polarization isolation. Polarization isolation, in case of linear
polarization, is achieved through the set of vertically polarized beam and horizontally
polarized beam whereas in case of circular polarization through the set of right circularly
polarized beam and left circularly polarized beam. Polarization isolation requires a pair of
reflectors one for each polarization. However, they need not be geometrically isolated as
they need be in the case of spatial
 22

isolation. Care must be taken to avoid cross-polarization and interference with

adjacent beams.
(2) Communications repeater: The communications repeater consists of the
following modules: (i) a wideband receiver/down converter, (ii) an input multiplexer, (iii)
channelized traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) and (iv) an output multiplexer.

(i) Wideband receiver/down converter: The wideband receiver receives all the
uplink signals that fall within its bandwidth capability, which is typically 500 MHz for C-
band (5.9 to 6.4 GHz) and Ku-band (14.0 to 14.5 GHz) uplink signals. The received
uplink signals are then amplified by a parametric or solid-state gallium arsenite field effect
transistor (GaAs FET) low-noise amplifier (LNA). The downconverter shifts these
uplink frequencies to downlink frequencies by multiplying the uplink carrier by the
local oscillator (LO) carrier and selecting the lower sideband by a bandpass filter (BPF).
Mixer

Uplink Downlink
LNA BPF BPF LNA
signals signals

LO

Wideband receiver-downconverter
The two most commonly used low-noise amplifiers are the parametric amplifier and
the GaAs FET amplifier, which are capable of providing very low noise temperature. Of
these two, the GaAs FET amplifier is cheaper, more stable and reliable than the
parametric amplifier.
In a parametric amplifier, the amplification is achieved when a capacitive reactance
(a varactor diode) is varied electronically at some frequency higher than the frequency of
the signal to be amplified. The parametric amplifier consists of two resonant circuits, one
at the signal frequency s and the other at an idler frequency i. The two resonant
circuits are coupled by a voltage-variable capacitor (varactor). The capacitance is a
sinusoidal function of the pump frequency p =s+i. A circulator is employed to route
the input signal to be amplified at port-1 to the resonant circuits at port-2 and to
transfer the reflected amplified signal from the resonant circuits at port-2 to the load at port-
3.
The input matching network in the GaAs FET amplifier is employed to keep the
noise figure as minimum as possible over the entire amplifier bandwidth. The output-
matching network is employed to provide the highest possible gain.
23
 Input
signal C sin p t

3
Resonant Resonant
Output frequency  s frequency  i
signal
 Equivalent circuit of a parametric amplifier

matching

matching
network

network
Output
Input
Load
Source

GaAs FET amplifier

(ii) Input multiplexer: The input multiplexer splits the received wideband signal
into individual transponder channels. Even-numbered and odd-numbered channels are
grouped together so that a greater frequency separation can be provided between adjacent
channels in a group to reduce adjacent channel interface.
The input multiplexer consists of a chain (usually two chains) of circulators,
input Bandpass filters and equalizers. Each circulator routes the entire wideband signal to
the next circulator in the chain and to the bandpass filter, which selects the respective
transponder channel. Equalizers compensate for the delay and amplitude distortions
encountered by the signals during the uplink transmission. The power divider is employed
to feed the two chains of circulators for the two groups of transponder channels.
For example, the typical 500 MHz wideband channels of 36 MHz wide each
with 4MHz guard bands.

24

Matched Matched
termination termination

Transponder
Group delay Amplitude
BPF equalizer equalizer
1

Matched
termination

Transponder
Group delay Amplitude
BPF equalizer equalizer
N-1
Matched
termination
Input Group delay Amplitude Transponder
BPF equalizer
equalizer N
signal

Input MUX

(iii) Channelized high power amplifiers (HPAs): The channelized high power
amplifiers (HPAs) are employed to raise the power level of the downlink signals to a
level significant for transmission back to earth. The most commonly used HPA is a
traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA).

The traveling wave tube amplifier uses the principle of velocity modulation.
The downlink signal to be amplified travels down a periodic structure called the helix.
The helix slows down the propagation velocity of the RF signal to that of the electron
beam from a dc

25
controlled cathode. The direction of propagation of the RF signal and the electron beam
must be the same. This results in an interaction between the electric fields induced by the RF
signal and the electron beam. Due to this interaction, the energy from the electron
beam is transferred to the RF signal. The exhausted electrons are collected by a
collector, which is grounded. The entire structure that comprises the cathode, the helix
and the collector is confined within an evacuated glass tube. Focusing the stream of
electrons emitted from the cathode onto a narrow beam is achieved through the cylindrical
magnets around the tube. The following figure shows the schematic diagram of a typical
TWTA.
The function of the redundancy network is to ensure that there is no stoppage
in transmission due to failure of any HPA.
(iv) Output multiplexer: The output multiplexer combines the individual
transponder channels from the channelized TWTAs for retransmission to earth. The
output multiplexer also provides the attenuation necessary to suppress signal harmonics
and spurious noise generated by the TWTAs.

(II) Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS):

The attitude and orbit control of a spacecraft is necessary since the externally
perturbing forces such as the earth’s oblateness, its gravitational field, the gravitational pull
by the moon and sun and the atmospheric drag can cause the spacecraft to drift off its
correct orbit and to loose its correct attitude in space. The AOCS of a spacecraft consists
mainly of gas jets and inertial devices such as momentum wheels and reaction wheels.
(1) Attitude Control System: The attitude of a spacecraft refers to its orientation
in space. The attitude control of a spacecraft if necessary to ensure that the
communication antennas, which are usually directional, point in the proper directions.
The attitude of the spacecraft can be ensured either by (i) spin stabilization or by
(ii) body (three-axis) stabilization.
(i) Spin stabilization: Two forms of spin stabilization are usually employed: (ia)
single-spin stabilization and (ib) double-spin stabilization.
(ia) Single -spin stabilization: In single-spin stabilization, the entire spacecraft is
spun about 30 to 100 rpm about the axis of principal moment of inertia. Such a high-
speed spin, which is achieved through gas jets mounted on the periphery of the drum
about the axis of principal moment of inertia sets up so-called gyroscopic stiffness of the
satellite, maintaining the spin axis in the same direction.
For a rigid satellite, the spin axis can be the axis of either minimum or
maximum moment of inertia. However, the satellite is not rigid since it has several
components such as communication antennas and liquid-propellant thrusters, which would
experience oscillatory accelerations. This causes the satellite to dissipate energy.
Hence, in the absence of perturbing forces, though the angular momentum of the
satellite is constant, the internal energy dissipation causes the spacecraft to move toward
a minimum energy state. Since the potential energy of a satellite can be assumed to be
constant, the kinetic energy of the satellite drops to minimum. Since the kinetic energy of
the satellite Ek, the magnitude of its angular
momentum h and the moment of inertia Is about the spin axis are related by the equation.
2
Ek=h /2Is for a constant angular momentum in case of a non-rigid satellite, the
kinetic
energy of the satellite must be minimum and the spin axis must be the axis of
maximum moment of inertia.
The externally perturbing forces such as those mentioned earlier can cause the
nutation, which is a form of wobbling, of the satellite. The perturbing forces decrease the
spin rate. Hence, the direction of the spin axis changes. For a disk-shaped body, the inside
surface of the body cone rolls on the outside surface of the space cone, whereas for a rod-
shaped body, the outside surface of the body cone rolls on the outside surface of the space
cone. Thus, the
26
spacecraft motion consists of the spacecraft rotation about its spin axis and the spin
axis rotation about the angular momentum vector. Such a motion is called the nutation.
These nutational motions of a satellite have been explained in the following figure.

Since the rate of nutation decay is proportional to the energy dissipation rate,
energy absorbers often called the nutation dampers are employed to increase the energy
dissipation rate and hence the rate of nutation decays.
(ib) Dual-spin stabilizat ion: For those spacecraft, which employ directional antennas
for communication purposes, the platform that contains the communication antenna and
repeater systems must be despun. Thus, a dual-spin stabilized spacecraft consists of a rotor
providing gyroscopic stabilization and a platform pointing towards the earth.

The spin axis can be the axis of minimum moment of inertia if the energy
dissipation rate in the platform is higher than that in the rotor by a certain factor (usually
2). For the satellite to be stable,

[(dEKP/dt)/(ISR/IT)]+{(dEKR/dt)/[(ISR/IT)1]}0

where (dEKP/dt)=energy dissipation rate in the platform, (dE KR/dt)=energy dissipation rate
in the rotor, ISR=spin moment of inertia of the rotor, IT=transverse moment of inertia of
the satellite.
There are two cases:

27
 Case-1: ISRIT. The spacecraft is stable if the energy dissipation occurs in either
the platform or the rotor. This implies that a nutation damper can be placed on either the
platform or the rotor.
Case-2: ISRIT. The first term (dE KP/dt)/(ISR/IT) is negative and the second term
(dEKR/dt)/[(ISR/IT)1] is positive. Hence, the stability condition becomes

(dEKP/dt)[(dEKP/dt)(ISP/IT)]/[(ISP/IT)1]

The satellite is stable if the energy dissipation in the platform is at least double that
in the rotor. Hence, the nutation dampers must be placed on the platform.
(ii) Three-axis stabilization: In three-axis stabilization, the attitude stabilization
is achieved in reference with three mutually orthogonal axes of the spacecraft, namely the
yaw-axis which is directed towards the earth’s center, the pitch-axis which is normal to the
orbital plane and the roll-axis which is tangential to the orbit and directed along the
spacecraft’s velocity vector. Normally, two forms of three-axis stabilization are
employed: fixed momentum wheel system with a non-zero momentum bias and reaction
wheel system with a zero momentum bias.
Roll axis
(tangential to orbit)

Orbit
Yaw axis
(towards earth’s center)

Pitch axis
(normal to orbital plane)
The fixed momentum wheel consists of a momentum wheel oriented along the
pitch axis and mass expulsion devices (thrusters) for the roll and yaw control. The pitch
and roll errors are detected by altitude sensors often called horizon or earth sensors. The
momentum wheel is a hard disk that can be rotated with a high speed within a sealed
evacuated housing. Such a high-speed rotation of the momentum wheel provides the
so-called gyroscopic stiffness to the spacecraft. The pitch error can be corrected by
applying a torque proportional to the disturbing torque that causes the pitch error. Such
a control torque is applied by changing the angular momentum of the wheel through
rotation. This applies a moment to the spacecraft to nullify the external moment. The mass-
expulsion devices (thrusters) are fired by the on-board electronic control system to
correct the roll error directly and yaw error indirectly.

28
 The three-axis reaction wheel system, as its name implies, consists of three
reaction wheels with zero nominal momentum oriented along the pitch, roll and yaw
axes and desaturation thrusters. With no perturbing forces, the reaction wheels are
stationary. when a perturbing force tends to change the spacecraft’s attitude, the
respective reaction wheel begins to rotate in the direction opposite to the spacecraft’s
shift, gathering momentum to cancel out the effect of the perturbing force.
Whether the perturbing forces are random or cyclic, the average momentum gathered
by a reaction wheel tends to be zero. However, some perturbing forces cause a
cumulative increase in wheel momentum and eventually at some point the wheel saturates.
This means that the wheel has reached its maximum allowable angular velocity and can
no longer take any more momentum. Mass-expulsion devices often called desaturation
thrusters are fired to unload the wheel, that is, to remove momentum from it.
Desaturation Thrusters

Desaturation
K  TACH Electronics

Attitude Desaturation
Sensors K  TACH Electronics

Desaturation
K TACH Electronics

(III) TT&C subsystem:

The telemetry subsystem monitors all satellite subsystems through various
onboard sensors, collects data about the spacecraft performance such as critical voltages
and currents in the communications electronics, pressure in the fuel tank, etc and
about the space environment such as temperature, solar radiation etc and sends these data
periodically to the controlling earth station via the omni directional telemetry antenna after
proper amplification process by a TSTA in the communications repeater when the satellite
is in the transfer orbit or via the communications antenna in normal on-station operation.
Based on the data transmitted by the telemetry system, the controlling earth
station generates, encodes and transmits command signals to the satellite to make the
required corrections. These command signals are received by the on-board command
receiver via the omni directional command antenna when the satellite is in the transfer
orbit or via the communications antenna in normal on-station operation, decode. Before
the execution of the command, an acknowledgement signal (the duplicate of the
received command signal, normally) is sent back to the controlling earth station of the
command is found to have been

29
received correctly, an execute signal is sent to the satellite. On receiving this execute
signal, the command is executed by the on-board control electronics.
The phase shift keying-time division multiple access (PSK-TDMA) system is
followed for the telemetry data and command signal transmissions, since the TDMA
system is more reliable and economical than the FDMA system in an increased
traffic condition and naturally a digital system is preferable to an analog system.
Multiple tones are transmitted to the satellite by the controlling earth station. They
are received by the command receiver and retransmitted by the telemetry transmitter
back to earth. The slant ranges of the satellite are thus found in the same manner as a radar
detects an object’s range. These range data are used to compute the orbital elements.
Normally a sufficient number of earth stations with an adequate separation observes the
satellite and performs simultaneous range measurements.

(IV) Electrical power subsystem:

The primary source of electrical power in a satellite is the solar array.
Photovoltaic effect is the concept behind the conversion of light into electrical power by a
solar cell. The two most popularly used solar cells in the satellite are the silicon cell and the
gallium arsenide cell. The gallium arsenide cells have slightly higher efficiency than
silicon cells. However, the gallium arsenide cells are costlier and are not commercially
available in large number. Hence, the silicon cells are extensively used in the satellite.

30
 In a spin-stabilized satellite, the solar array system consists of two
concentric cylindrical panels of silicon cells. The forward panel is attached to the main
structure and is divided into two arrays separated by a thermal radiator band. The aft panel
is retracted over the forward panel during the transfer orbit and extended into its
operating position in the geostationary orbit. In the transfer orbit, the solar power is
provided by the aft panel alone.
The disadvantage of a spin-stabilized satellite is that only one third of the solar array
is exposed to the sun at any time. Hence, a larger satellite is required for a higher power
level to provide sufficient space for the body-mounted solar cells.
In a three-axis body-stabilized satellite, the solar array system consists of two
solar array wings, each of which consists of a deployment mechanism, one or more rigid
panels of solar cells and a solar array drive mechanism which provides a rotation of one
revolution per day to keep the array pointed at the sun. In the transfer orbit, the panels are
folded and stored by restraint bands against the north & south-facing sides of the satellite.
The outermost panel is partially illuminated by the sun providing the required small
amount of power. In the geostationary orbit, the array is deployed and full power becomes
available.
The following figure shows a plot between dc power and array weight for both the
spin stabilized and three-axis body stabilized satellites. It is seen that a larger power-to-
weight ratio can be obtained by using deployed solar arrays. However, the weight and
complexity of a deployed solar array drive motor make the spin-stabilized system more
attractive for low power satellites.

75

60
eigh (k )

45

30
ar ay

15

0
0 400 800 1200 1600
dc power (w)
Because a geostationary satellite experiences 88 eclipses during one year on
station with a maximum eclipse duration of 70 min/day, rechargeable batteries must be
used to deliver power during an eclipse. Nickel-cadmium batteries are commonly used
but nickel-hydrogen batteries are replacing them because of their higher power-to-weight
ratio. The batteries are recharged regularly by the solar array. An onboard power-
conditioning unit controls the charging current.

Link Design:
Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power: If Pt is the transmitting antenna input power in
watts and Gt is the transmitting antenna gain, then the Effective or Equivalent Isotropic
Radiated Power (EIRP) in watts is defined as
31
EIRP=PtGt

or in dB as

[EIRP] = [Pt] + [Gt]

where
[EIRP] EIRP in decibel watts (dBW)
[Pt]  transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]  transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)

Basic link analysis: Link Budget Equation:

The following figure shows the model for basic link analysis.

Satellite

Gr

Pr=IAre
2
I=PtGt/4d
d

EIRP=PtGt

HPA

Pt Gt

Basic link design

If Pt is the available antenna input carrier power in watts from the transmitting
earth station high power amplifier and Gt is the gain of the transmitting earth station
antenna, then the effective isotropic radiated power in watts is given by

EIRP = PtGt ------------------ (1)

If d is the transmission range or distance between the transmitting and

receiving antennas, then the flux density or field intensity of the electromagnetic field at
2
the receiving antenna in watts per meter is given by
2
I = EIRP/4d
2
I = PtGt/4d --------------------- (2)

32
 2
If Are is the effective aperture area of the receiving antenna in meter , then the
power received in watts is given by

Pr = IAre
2
Pr = PtGtAre/4d -------------------- (3)

If Gr is the gain of the receiving antenna, then

2
Gr = 4Are/ ------------------- (4)

where is the operating wavelength and is given by

= c/f -------------------(5)

where c is the speed of light and f is the operating frequency.

From Eqn(4), we have

2
Are =  Gr/4 ------------------ (6)

Substituting Eqn(6) in Eqn(3),

2
Pr = PtGtGr(/4d) --------------------(7)
2
where the quantity, (4d/) is called the Free Space or Path loss (FSL or FPL). Equ(7)
can be written in dB as

[Pr] = [Pt] + [Gt] + [Gr] [FSL] -----------------(8)

or

[Pr] = [EIRP] + [Gr] [FSL] -----------------(9)

where
[Pr]  received power in decibel watts (dBW)
[EIRP] = [Pt] + [Gt] EIRP in decibel watts
(dBW)
[Pt]  transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]  transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr]  receiver antenna gain in decibels (dB)
2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB)

Losses:
Free Space or Path Loss (FSL or FPL): The Free Space or Path Loss (FSL or FPL) is defined
as
2
FSL = (4d/)

or in dB

33
 2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/)

Receiver Feeder Loss (RFL): The loss that occurs in the connection between the
receiving antenna and the receiver proper such as waveguides, filters, and couplers is
called the Receiver Feeder Loss (RFL). (The Transmitter Feeder Loss (TFL) is omitted
since the EIRP is taken into account.)

Antenna Pointing or Misalignment Loss (APL or AML): When a satellite link is

established, the earth station and satellite antennas are to be aligned for maximum gain, as
shown in the following figure (a).

T
R

There are two possible sources of off-axis loss, one at the satellite and one at the
earth station, as shown in the above figure (b). The off-axis loss at the earth station is
referred to as the Antenna Pointing or Misalignment Loss (APL or AML). The
depointing losses are a function of the misalignment of angles of transmission (T) and
reception (R). Their values are given by
2
[AML]U=12(T/3dB) for uplink where

3dB=70(U/d)=10(c/fUd) degrees
2
[AML]D=12(R/3dB) for downlink where

3dB=70(D/d)=70(c/fDd) degrees

Fixed atmospheric and ionospheric losses: Atmospheric gases result in losses by

absorption and the ionosphere introduces a depolarization loss. These atmospheric
absorption loss and polarization loss are denoted as AAL and PL.

Taking all the losses described into account, Equ(9) can be written as

[Pr] = [EIRP] + [Gr] ([FSL] + [RFL] + [AML] + [AAL] + [PL]) -----------------(10)

34
where
[Pr]  received power in decibel watts (dBW)
[EIRP] = [Pt] + [Gt] EIRP in decibel watts
(dBW)
[Pt]  transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]  transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr]  receiver antenna gain in decibels (dB)
2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB)
[RFL]  receiver feeder loss in decibels (dB)
[AML]  antenna misalignment or pointing loss in decibels
(dB) [AAL]  atmospheric absorption loss in decibels (dB)
[PL]  ionospheric polarization loss in decibels (dB)

Equ(10) is called the link budget equation.

System Noise and Carrier-to-Noise (C/N) Ratio:

Let us consider a typical receiving system as shown in the following figure.

Amplifier Tc
Antenna with with gain, G
noise Receiver with
and noise
temperature, noise factor, F
temperature,
Tant Ta
Cable with Tr
No loss factor, L

Equivalent noise temperature Ambient temperature, To

of the system, Ts1

The noise power density, No at the input of the receiving system is given by
23
No = K(Tant + Ts1 ) ----(1) (K=1.3810 Joules/Kelvin)

where Ts1 is the temperature equivalence of the noise power referred to the input of
the system comprising of an amplifier with gain G, the cable connecting the antenna-
amplifier system to the receiver and the receiver. This system noise temperature, Ts is the
combined effect of the noises generated by these three parts.
The noise power generated by the receiver part is often represented in terms of its
noise factor, F which relates the noise temperature of the receiver, Tr to the ambient
temperature, To as

Tr = (F1)To ---------(2)

The cable is an absorptive or a lossy network. The noise power generated by such
a lossy network is often represented in terms of its power loss, L which relates the
noise temperature, Tc of the network to the ambient temperature, To as

Tc = (L1)To ------(3)

35
 Amplifier
with gain, G
No,in No,out

Lossy
network with
No,in loss, L No,out

The noise power density, No,in at the input of an amplifier (a lossy) network with
gain (loss) G (L) is related to that, No,out at its output as

No,out = GNo,in -----(4)

for an amplifier network and

No,out = No,in/L -------(5)

for a lossy network. Hence the noise temperature, Tr of the receiver part is increased by
a factor equal to the power loss, L of the cable and reduced by a factor equal to the gain, G
of the amplifier and the noise temperature, T c of the cable is reduced by a factor equal to
the gain, G of the amplifier when referred to the input of the receiving system.
Therefore, the noise temperature at the input of the receiving system, Ts1 can be shown to be

Ts1 = Ta + (Tc/G) + (LTr/G) -------(6)

Substituting (2) & (3) in (6),

Ts1 = Ta + [(L1)To/G] + [L(F1)To/G] ------(7)

If B is the bandwidth of the receiving system, then the noise power, Pn is given by

Pn = NoB = K(Tant + Ts1 )B = KTsB -----(8)

where Ts = Tant + Ts1 is the overall system noise temperature in Kelvin given by

Ts = Tant + Ta + [(L1)To/G] + [L(F1)T o/G] -----(9)

Since the power received, Pr in a link design, including all losses, is given by

Pr = Pt Gt Gr/Lall ------(10)

where Lall = (FSL)(RFL)(AML)(AAL)(PL) represents the total loss inclusive of free

space loss (FSL), receiver feeder loss (RFL), antenna misalignment loss (AML),
atmospheric absorption loss (AAL) and polarization loss (PL) in the link, the Carrier-to-
Noise (C/N) ratio is found to be

C/N = Pr/Pn = Pt Gt Gr/KTsBLall = (EIRP) (Gr/Ts) (1/K) (1/B) (1/Lall) -----(11)

36
where EIRP = PtGt and (Gr/Ts) is the receiving system’s Figure Of Merit (FOM) or in dB as

[C/N] = [EIRP] + [Gr/Ts] [K] [B] [Lall] ----(12)

where
[C/N]  true carrier-to-noise ratio
[EIRP] = [Pt] + [Gt] EIRP in decibel watts (dBW)
[Pt]  transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]  transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr/Ts]  receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin
1
(dBK ) [K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[Lall] = [FSL] + [RFL] + [AML] + [AAL] + [PL]  total loss in decibels (dB)
2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB)
[RFL]  receiver feeder loss in decibels (dB)
[AML]  antenna misalignment or pointing loss in decibels
(dB) [AAL]  atmospheric absorption loss in decibels (dB)
[PL]  ionospheric polarization loss in decibels (dB)

Since the noise power density, No is given by No = Pn/B,

C/N = (C/NoB) ----(13)

or in dB as

[C/N] = [C/No] [B]

and hence the Carrier-to-Noise power density (C/No) is found to be

[C/No] = [C/N] + [B] -----(14)

Substituting (12) in (14),

[C/No] = [EIRP] + [Gr/Ts] [K] [Lall] ----(15)

where
[C/No]  carrier-to-noise ratio in decibels hertz (dBHz)
[EIRP] = [Pt] + [Gt] EIRP in decibel watts (dBW)
[Pt]  transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]  transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr/Ts]  receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin
1
(dBK ) [K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[Lall] = [FSL] + [RFL] + [AML] + [AAL] + [PL]  total loss in decibels (dB)
2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB)
[RFL]  receiver feeder loss in decibels (dB)
[AML]  antenna misalignment or pointing loss in decibels
(dB) [AAL]  atmospheric absorption loss in decibels (dB)
[PL]  ionospheric polarization loss in decibels (dB)

37
The Uplink:
The uplink of a satellite circuit is the one in which the earth station is transmitting
the signal and the satellite is receiving it. The carrier-to-noise density ratio for the
uplink is expressed as

[C/No]U = [EIRP]U + [Gr/Ts]U [K] [Lall]U -----(1)

where
[C/No]U  carrier-to-noise ratio in decibels hertz (dBHz) at satellite
[EIRP]U = [Pt]U + [Gt]U  EIRP in decibel watts (dBW) at earth station
[Pt]U  earth station’s transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]U  earth station’s transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr/Ts]U satellite receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin
1
(dBK ) [K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[Lall]U = [FSL]U + [OTHER LOSSES]U  total loss in decibels (dB) at uplink frequency
2
[FSL]U = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB) at uplink frequency
[OTHER LOSSES]U  other frequency-dependent losses in decibels (dB) at
uplink frequency
The flux density required at the receiving antenna to produce the saturation of the
TWTA is termed the saturation flux density. If the distance between the transmitting
and receiving antennas is d, then the saturation flux density, s can be expressed in terms
of the earth EIRP as
2
s = EIRP/4d ----(2)

or in dB as
2
[s] = [EIRP] +10log[1/4d ] ----(3)

Since the free space loss, FSL is expressed in dB as

2 2 2 2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/) = 10log(/4d) = 10log( /4)10log(1/4d ) ----(4)
2
[s] = [EIRP] 10log( /4) [FSL]

[s] = [EIRP] [Aeo] [FSL] ----(5)

where
2
[Aeo] = 10log( /4) ----(6)

is the effective area of the isotropic antenna.

Hence the earth station EIRP required to produce the saturation flux density,
taking other losses into account, is given by

[EIRP] = [s] + [Aeo] + [FSL] + [OTHER LOSSES] ----(7)

where
[EIRP]  earth station EIRP in decibels watts (dBW)

38
 2 2
[s] satellite receiver saturation flux density in decibel watts per meter (dBW/m )
2
[Aeo] = 10log( /4)  effective area of isotropic antenna at uplink frequency in
decibels (dB)
2
[FSL] = 10log(4d/)  free space loss at uplink frequency in decibels (dB)
[OTHER LOSSES]  other frequency-dependent losses at uplink frequency in decibels (dB)

Hence, the uplink carrier-to-noise density ratio is given by

[C/No]U = [s] + [Aeo]U + [Gr/Ts]U [K] [FSL]U [OTHER LOSSES]U -----(8)

where
[C/No]U  carrier-to-noise ratio in decibels hertz (dBHz) at satellite
2 2
[s] satellite receiver saturation flux density in decibel watts per meter (dBW/m )
2
[Aeo]U = 10log( /4)  effective area of isotropic antenna at uplink frequency in
decibels (dB)
2
[FSL]U = 10log(4d/)  free space loss at uplink frequency in decibels (dB)
1
[Gr/Ts]U satellite receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin (dBK )
[K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[OTHER LOSSES]U  other frequency-dependent losses at uplink frequency in
decibels (dB)
In case of multiple carriers, the operating point of the satellite TWTA is to be backed
off to a linear portion of the transfer characteristic to reduce the effects of
intermodulation distortion. This requires that the earth station EIRP is to be reduced by a
specified amount, [BO]i called the input-backoff. Thus the expression for the carrier-to-
noise density ratio becomes

[C/No]U = [s] + [Aeo]U [BO]i + [Gr/Ts]U [K] [FSL]U [OTHER LOSSES]U -----(9)

where
[C/No]U  carrier-to-noise ratio in decibels hertz (dBHz) at satellite
2 2
[s] satellite receiver saturation flux density in decibel watts per meter (dBW/m )
2
[Aeo]U = 10log( /4)  effective area of isotropic antenna at uplink frequency in
decibels (dB)
[BO]i  input backoff in decibels (dB)
2
[FSL]U = 10log(4d/)  free space loss at uplink frequency in decibels (dB)
1
[Gr/Ts]U satellite receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin (dBK )
[K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[OTHER LOSSES]U  other frequency-dependent losses at uplink frequency in
decibels (dB)

The Downlink:
The downlink of a satellite circuit is the one in which the satellite is transmitting
the signal and the earth station is receiving it. The carrier-to-noise density ratio for the
downlink is expressed as

[C/No]D = [EIRP]D + [Gr/Ts]D [K] [Lall]D -----(1)

where
[C/No]D  carrier-to-noise ratio in decibels hertz (dBHz) at earth station

39
[EIRP]D = [Pt]D + [Gt]D  EIRP in decibel watts (dBW) at satellite
[Pt]D  satellite’s transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]D  satellite’s transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr/Ts]D  earth station receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin
1
(dBK ) [K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[Lall]D = [FSL]D + [OTHER LOSSES]D  total loss in decibels (dB) at downlink frequency
2
[FSL]D = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB) at downlink frequency
[OTHER LOSSES]D  other frequency-dependent losses in decibels (dB) at
downlink frequency
When an input back-off, [BO]i is employed in case of a multiple-carrier uplink,
a corresponding output back-off, [BO]o must be allowed for in the satellite EIRP for
the downlink. As the output back-off is not linearly related to input backoff, a rule of
thumb frequently used is to take the output backoff as the point on the curve which is 5
dB below the extrapolated linear portion. For example, with an input back-off of [BO]i
11 dB, the corresponding output back-off is [BO]o = 11 5 = 6 dB. Thus the expression
for the carrier-to-noise density ratio becomes

[C/No]D = [EIRP]D [BO]o + [Gr/Ts]D [K] [Lall]D -----(2)

where
[C/No]D  carrier-to-noise ratio in decibels hertz (dBHz) at earth
station [EIRP]D = [Pt]D + [Gt]D  EIRP in decibel watts (dBW) at
satellite [BO]o  output backoff in decibels (dB)
[Pt]D  satellite’s transmitting antenna input power in decibel watts
(dBW) [Gt]D  satellite’s transmitting antenna gain in decibels (dB)
[Gr/Ts]D  earth station receiving system’s FOM in decibels per Kelvin
1
(dBK ) [K]  Boltzman’s constant in decibels Kelvin (dBK)
[Lall]D = [FSL]D + [OTHER LOSSES]D  total loss in decibels (dB) at downlink frequency
2
[FSL]D = 10log(4d/)  path loss in decibels (dB) at downlink frequency
[OTHER LOSSES]D  other frequency-dependent losses in decibels (dB) at
downlink frequency

Examples:
1. For the system shown in following figure, the receiver noise figure is 12 dB, the cable
loss is 5 dB, the LNA gain is 50 dB, and its noise temperature 150 K. The antenna
noise temperature is 35 K. Calculate the noise temperature referred to the input. (Ans: 185
K)
Amplifier with gain, G and noise temperature,
Antenna with T
noise Receiver with noise factor, F
temperature, Cable with power
Tant
loss L:1
Solutio n: The noise temperature of the receiver part is increased by the power loss, L of
the cable and reduced by the gain, G of the amplifier and the noise temperature of the
cable is reduced by the gain, G of the amplifier. Hence the overall system noise
temperature, T s is given by
Ts = Tant + Ta + [(L1)To/G] + [L(F1)T o/G]

40
 [F]/10 1.2
Noise figure, [F]=12 dB Noise factor, F=10 =10 =15.85
[L]/10 0.5
Cable loss, [L]=5 dB Cable loss, L=10 =10 =3.16
[G]/10 5
Gain of LNA (Low Noise Amplifier), [G]=50 dB Gain of LNA, G=10 =10
Antenna noise temperature, Tant=35 K
Ambient temperature, To=290 K (general assumption)

Ts185 K.

2. Repeat the calculation when the system of the above figure is arranged as shown
in following figure. (Ans: 1136 K)
Amplifier with gain, G and noise temperature, Ta
Antenna with Receiver with noise factor, F
noise
temperature,
Tant Cable with power
loss L:1
Solutio n: Since the cable precedes the amplifier, the noise temperature of the cable is
not reduced by the gain, G of the amplifier but the noise temperature of the amplifier is
increased by the power loss, L of the cable and that of the receiver is reduced by the
gain, G of the amplifier and increased by the power loss, L of the cable. Hence the
overall system noise temperature, Ts can be expressed as

Ts = Tant + (L1)To + LTa + L(F1)To/G

[F]/10 1.2
Noise figure, [F]=12 dB Noise factor, F=10 =10 =15.85
[L]/10 0.5
Cable loss, [L]=5 dB Cable loss, L=10 =10 =3.16
[G]/10 5
Gain of LNA (Low Noise Amplifier), [G]=50 dB Gain of LNA, G=10 =10
Antenna noise temperature, Tant=35 K
Ambient temperature, To=290 K (general assumption)

Ts 1136 K (This is why the LNA MUST precede the feeder cable.)

3. A satellite link operating at 14 GHz has receiver feeder losses of 1.5 dB and a free-
space loss of 207 dB. The atmospheric absorption loss is 0.5 dB, and the antenna pointing
loss is 0.5 dB. Depolarization losses may be neglected. Calculate the total link loss for
clear-sky conditions. (Hint: Add all losses in dB.) (Ans: 209.5 dB)

4. In a link budget calculation at 12 GHz, the free-space loss is 206 dB, the antenna
pointing loss is 1 dB, and the atmospheric absorption is 2 dB. The receiver G/T ratio is 19.5
dB/K, and receiver feeder losses are 1 dB. The EIRP is 48 dBW. Calculate the carrier-to-
noise spectral density ratio. (Hint: Use Equ(15) in page 36.) (Ans: 86.10 dBHz)

5. An uplink operates at 14 GHz, and the flux density required to saturate the transponder
2
is 120 dB(W/m ). The free-space loss is 207 dB, and the other propagation losses amount
to 2 dB. Calculate the earth-station [EIRP] required for saturation, assuming clear-sky
conditions. Assume [RFL] is negligible. (Hint: Use Equ(7) in page 37.) (Ans: 44.63 dBW)

41
 2
6. An uplink at 14 GHz requires a saturation flux density of 91.4 dBW/m and an
1
input backoff of 11 dB. The satellite G/T is 6.7 dBK and receiver feeder losses amount
to 0.6 dB. Calculate the carrier-to-noise density ratio. (Hint: Use Equ(9) in page 38.)
(Ans: 74.5 dBHz)

7. A satellite TV signal occupies the full transponder band-width of 36 MHz, and it

must provide a C/N ratio at the destination earth station of 22 dB. Given that the total
transmission losses are 200 dB and the destination earth station G/T ratio is 31 dB/K,
calculate the satellite EIRP required. (Hint: Use Equ(1) in page 38.) (Ans: 38 dBW)

8. The specified parameters for a downlink are satellite saturation value of EIRP, 25
dBW; output backoff, 6 dB; free-space loss, 196 dB; allowance for other downlink losses,
1.5 dB; and earth station G/T, 41 dB/K. Calculate the carrier-to-noise density ratio at
the earth station. (Hint: Use Equ(2) in page 39.) (Ans: 91.1 dBHz)

Interferences:
Interference into or from adjacent satellite systems:
To analyze the interference into or from an adjacent satellite system let us consider
two satellite systems: an existing satellite system A and a proposed satellite system B.
Then any receiving earth station of the system A is affected by two interferences: (i)
the uplink interference signals from the transmitting earth stations of the system B and (ii)
the downlink interference signals from the satellite B. The overall carrier-to-interference
ratio due to these interferences from the proposed satellite system B into the adjacent
satellite system A is given by

1 1
[C/I]=[(C/I)u ] + [(C/I)d ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------(1)
where
/ /
[(C/I)u]=[EIRPs][EIRPs ]+[Gs][Gs ]  uplink carrier-to-interference ratio,

EIRPs  EIRP at the interfered satellite A in the direction of the interfered earth station
of the system A,
/
EIRPs  EIRP at the interfered satellite A in the direction of the interfering earth station
of the system B,

42
Gs  antenna gain of the interfered satellite A in the direction of the interfered earth
station of the system A and
/
Gs  antenna gain of the interfered satellite A in the direction of the interfering earth
station of the system B.
/ /
[(C/I)d]=[EIRPe][EIRPe ]+[Ge][Ge ]  uplink carrier-to-interference ratio,

EIRPe EIRP at the interfered earth station of the system A in the direction of the
interfered satellite A,
/
EIRPe  EIRP at the interfered earth station of the system A in the direction of
the interfering satellite B,

Gs  antenna gain of the interfered earth station of the system A in the direction of
the interfered satellite A and
/
Gs  antenna gain of the interfered earth station of the system A in the direction of
the interfering satellite B.
Similarly any receiving earth station of the system B is affected by two interferences:
(i) the uplink interference signals from the transmitting earth stations of the system A and
(ii) the downlink interference signals from the satellite A. The overall carrier-to-
interference ratio due to these interferences into the proposed satellite system B from the
adjacent satellite system A is given by a similar expression interchanging the roles of A and
B.

Interference from terrestrial microwave links:

Since some frequency bands allocated to satellite communication are also allocated
to terrestrial microwave links, there exists a mutual interference between an earth station
and a terrestrial microwave link e.g., 6/4 GHz frequency band.

Interference due to ionosphere, rain and ice crystals: depolarization:

Orthogonal (linear or circular) polarizations are utilized in the frequency reuse
satellite systems. The ionosphere, ice crystals or the rain drops present in the earth’s
atmosphere tend to alter the polarization of the transmitted wave causing interference.
Generally a component orthogonal to the transmitted wave is generated, an effect known
as depolarization. Hence any electric field transmitted will have two components at
the receiving end due to depolarization: (i) a copolar component parallel to the
transmitted one and (ii) cross-polar component perpendicular to the transmitted one. Two
measures are usually used to quantify the effect of the depolarization: (i) cross-polarization
discrimination defined as

XPD=20log(E11/E12) dB

where E11 is the copolar component of the transmitted electric field E1 and E12 is the
cross-polar component of E1 as shown below.
43
and (ii) polarization isolation defined as

I=20log(E11/E21) dB

where E21 is the copolar component of another transmitted electric field E 2 orthogonal to
E1 as shown below.

Interference due to intermodulation:

Intermodulation occurs when a multicarrier signal passes through a device that
exhibits nonlinearity characteristics. The most commonly used high power amplifier
TWTA exhibits both amplitude and phase nonlinearities leading to the occurrence
of intermodulation products. The effect of intermodulation products caused by amplitude
nonlinearity is more dominant than that caused by phase nonlinearity.

Intersymbol interference:
Due to the fact that any system is bandlimited and due to the bandpass filtering of
the incoming signals at various stages, the pulses used to represent a ‘1’ or a ’0’ in
digital communication tend to ‘smear’ into adjacent pulses causing intersymbol interference.

Other possible interferences:

Adjacent channel interference, an interference between nearby channels and
antenna pointing loss, a loss due to misalignment of the antenna pointing vector and
the satellite position vector as shown below.

Minimization of interferences:
1. Adjacent channel interference can be minimized by using a low sidelobe antenna.

44
2. Terrestrial interference can be minimized by appropriate site selection and site
shielding or using higher frequency band other than 6/4 GHz.
3. Adjacent channel interference can be minimized by providing guard band
between adjacent channels.
4. Intermodulation interference can be minimized by appropriate transponder
TWTA output backoff.
5. Intersymbol interference can be minimized by appropriate selection of modulator
and demodulator filters.
6. Cross-polarization interference can be minimized by using circular polarization
instead of linear polarization.
7. Antenna pointing loss can be minimized by appropriate tracking system.

Propagation Characteristics and Frequency Considerations:

Why uplink frequency is higher than downlink frequency?
1. To reduce path loss in downlink
2. To increase effective aperture area (and hence gain) of satellite antenna in uplink

System Reliability and Design Lifetime:

(I) Reliability:
Reliability is defined quantitatively as the probability that a component or a
system referred to will perform its intended function without failure for the required
period of time under specified operating conditions.
(1) Component reliability: A component can fail in two ways: (i) random failure
and (ii) wear-out.
(i) The random failure of a component occurs when the component suddenly
fails because of an overstress, which may be an environmental stress line ambient
temperature or an operating stress like voltage fluctuation or an unexpected combination of
both. The failure may be temporary or permanent. If the failure is temporary, the
component can be made to work properly again by restoring the stress level to normal. If
the failure is permanent, the component need be replaced.
(ii) The wear-out of a component occurs when the operational life of the component
is over.
The components such as electronic tubes, relays and electric motors are subject to
wear-out where as most of the passive components such as resistors, capacitors and
inductors and active semiconductor components such as transistors are at least theoretically
not subject to wear-out. However, the semiconductor components are subject to failure
due to changes in their crystal structures.
The plot of the probability of failure of most of electronic components versus
time shows a “bath tub” curve as shown in the following figure.

Burn-in End of life

Prob bility

failure
of

Useful lifetime

0
0 Time

45
 There is a burn-in period where the probability of failure of an electronic component
is higher than at some point later. The period where the probability of failure remains
constant is the most important period, which is the useful lifetime of an electronic
component and for which all reliability analysis are made. The probability of failure is
higher towards the end of life.
Let us suppose that the total number of components to be tested is NO and the
number of components surviving after a test period t (that is, the number of components
still meeting the quality criteria) is NS. Then the reliability, which is a function of time can
be expressed as

R(t)=[NS(t)]/[NO]=[NS(t)]/[NS(t)+Nf(t)]=[NONf(t)]/[NO] -----------------------------------(1)

where Nf(t) is the number of components that have failed after the test period t.
Nf(t) increases with time until Nf(t) equals NO and none of the components survives.
Differentiating Equ(1), we have

[dR/dt]=[1/NO][dNf/dt]

The failure rate , another important measure of reliability can be defined as the ratio
of the change of the number of failures per unit time [dNf/dt] to the number of
surviving components at any time. That is,

{[dNf/dt]/NS}=[1/NS][dNf/dt] ------------------------------------------------------------------(2)

From Equ(1), we have

=[NO/NS][dR/dt]=[1/R][dR/dt] --------------------------------------------------------------(3)

The solution of Equ(3) may be expressed as

t
R=e ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(4)

Equ(4) shows that reliability is an exponential function of the failure rate and time.
The mean time before failure (MTBF) another important measure of reliability, which
is the reciprocal of the failure rate,  can be defined as the average time of survival of
each component. That is, if the ith component fails after a time ti, then

MTBF=m=[ti]/[NO]=1/
(t/m)
R=e

(2) System reliability-Redundancy configurations: The system reliability depends on

the individual component reliability of which the system is composed and on
some redundancy configuration used for the system reliability improvement. Let us
consider the reliabilities of some of these redundancy configurations.
(i) Series redundancy: Let us suppose that N elements, 1,2,…,N are in series so that
the failure of any element causes the entire system failure. If the individual element
reliabilities are R1,R2,…,RN, then the system reliability becomes

R1 R2 R3 RN

46
RS=R1R2…RN=Ri -------------------------------------------------------------------------------(5)

Instead of considering the individual element reliabilities, it is customary to

consider their probabilities of failure 1,2,…,N. Hence the reliability becomes

RS=(11)(12)…(1N)=(1i) -------------------------------------------------------------(6)

Let us suppose that each element in the system has two failure modes, one by
open circuit and the other by short circuit and the probability that an element will fail to
function by opening is oi and the probability that the element will fail to function by
shorting is si. Then the system will fail if one element goes open or all elements go
short and hence the system reliability becomes

RS=[(1oi)][si] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------(7)

If all elements have the same reliability R, then Equ(5) becomes

N
RS=R -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(8)

(ii) Parallel redundancy: Let M elements be in parallel so that the system will work
if at least one element works. The system fails only when all elements fail. If the
individual element probabilities of failures are 1,2,…,M, then the system failure
probability is

R1

R2

R3

RM

P=12…M=I ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------(9)

The system reliability is

RP=1(1Ri) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(10)

or if we consider two modes of failure of the element, the system fails if all elements go
open or one element goes short and hence Equ(6) becomes

RP=[(1si )][oi] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------(11)

47
 (iii) Partial parallel redundancy: In partial parallel redundancy, at least K out of
M elements must operate for the system to operate. Let us assume that the individual
element reliabilities are the same and equal to R. The system will operate if all elements
operate-which is possible in MC0 different arrangements –or if one but all elements
operate-which is possible in MC1 arrangements-or if two but all elements operate-which
is possible in MC2 arrangements-or if three but all elements operate-which is possible in
MC3 arrangements and so on [up to (MK) failures]. Hence the probability that the system
will work is the sum of all the probabilities of operating in different arrangements. That is,
i Mi
RPP=MCiR (1R) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------(12)

(iv) Series-parallel redundancy: The system reliability

is
R1 2 R1 N
R11

R2 2 R2 N
R2 1

RM N
RM 1 RM 2

RSP=[1(1Rij)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------(13)

If all parallel components have equal reliability Ri, then

M
RSP=[1(1Ri) ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------(14)

If all elements have equal reliability R, then

M N
RSP=[1(1R) ] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------(15)

(v) Parallel-series redundancy: The system reliability is

R11 R12 R1N

R21 R22 R2N

RM1 RM2 RMN

RPS=1j[1IRij] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------(16)

48
 If all series elements have equal reliability Rj, then
N
RPS=1i(1Rj ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------(17)

If all elements have equal reliability R, then

N M
RPS=1(1R ) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------(18)

The following figure shows the comparison of SP & PS

redundancies: 1.00
Rsp, M=3
0.98 R , M=2
sp

0.96 Rps,

0.94 M=3
Rps,
0.92
M=2
0.90

0.88

0.86

0.84

0.82
1 2 3 4 5
Reliability of parallel-series and series-parallel redundancy
(vi) Switched redundancy: This redundancy is the most modern. The system
reliability is
R1

S1 R2 S2

RN
RSW=RS  [reliability of the rest of the redundancy circuit]

where RS is the reliability of the switch. Thus the system reliability is no more than
the reliability of the switch. Hence the reliability of the switch must be much greater than
that of the rest of the redundancy circuit.

49
 EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
UNIT III
Modulation and Multiplexing: Voice:
Baseband voice signals:
A baseband voice signal is the voltage generated by an individual telephone set.
The CCITT recommended voice channel occupies a flat spectrum extending from 300 Hz to
3400 Hz.
Single-sideband telephony:
In single-sideband telephony, the baseband voice signal occupying the spectrum
(300-3400 Hz) is multiplied by a sinusoidal carrier signal of frequency, fc Hz. This results in
a new spectrum in which the original baseband voice signal appears on either side of the
carrier frequency. The result of this multiplication process is often referred to as the
double-sideband, suppressed carrier (DSBSC) modulation since only the two side bands,
not the carrier, appear in the output. Since all the information in the original telephone
signal is contained in either of the two sidebands, and therefore, it is necessary to transmit
only one of these. A bandpass filter may be used to select either one and reject the other.
The resulting output is termed a single-sideband (SSB) signal.
A typical 20-KHz carrier SSB telephony system is described in the following figure.

Companded single sideband (CSSB) refers to a technique in which the speech

signal levels are compressed before transmission as a single sideband, and at the receiver
they are expanded again back to their original levels. (The term compander is
derived from compressor-expander). The expander decreases its attenuation when a
speech signal is present and increases its attenuation when it is absent. In this way the
“idle” noise on the channel is reduced, which allows the channel to operate at a reduced
carrier-to-noise ratio. This in turn permits more channels to occupy a given satellite link.

50
FDM telephony:
Frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) provides a way of keeping a number
of individual telephone signals separate while transmitting them simultaneously over a
common transmission link circuit. Each telephone baseband signal is modulated onto
a separate subcarrier, and all the upper or all the lower sidebands are combined to form
the frequency-multiplexed signal. The resulting multiplexed signal is often termed as
the basic group. Several such basic groups may be frequency-division multiplexed in a
similar fashion to form a supergroup. Basic mastergroup and super mastergroup may
be formed by similarly frequency-division multiplexing several supergroups and
several basic mastergroups respectively. Finally the super mastergroup (often termed as
the composite FDM signal) is frequency-modulated by an IF-carrier and the resulting
FM signal is converted to the appropriate uplink frequency for transmission to the
satellite. The following figure shows a typical FDM/FM telephony system.

In a typical FDM/FM transmission, the basic group is formed by frequency-

division multiplexing 12 (300-3400Hz) voice channels each having 4-KHz
bandwidth in the multiplexed output. In the standard plan, the lower sidebands are
selected using the bandpass filers (BPFs). The basic group spectrum extends from 60 to
108 kHz. The following figure shows the formation of a basic group in a typical FDM/FM
telephony system.

51
 The supergroup is formed by frequency-division multiplexing 5 basic groups in
a similar fashion. The lower sidebands are selected. The bandwidth of the supergroup
extends from 312 to 552 kHz comprising 60 voice-frequency channels. The following
figure shows the formation of a supergroup from 5 basic groups.

A basic mastergroup is formed by frequency-division multiplexing five

supergroups together. The lower side-bands are combined to form a 300-VF-channel basic
mastergroup. Allowing for 8-kHz guard bands between sidebands, the basic mastergroup
extends from 812 to 2044 kHz.
A super mastergroup is formed by frequency-division multiplexing three
basic mastergroups together. The lower sidebands are combined to form the 900-VF-
channel super mastergroup. Allowing for 88-kHz guard bands between sidebands, the
super mastergroup extends from 8516 to 12,388 kHz.

Modulation and Multiplexing: Video:

Video baseband signal: Color television:
The baseband signal for television contains two components: the composite
video signal and the audio signal. The composite video signal comprises the luminance
signal, Y which represents the intensity variations in the image frame, the chrominance
signals, U and V, which represent the hue and saturation of the colour components in the
image frame, and the synchronization signals.
The following shows how the luminance and chrominance signals are generated.
A television camera produces three voltages E R, EB and E G representing the red (R), blue
(B) and green (G) components of the colour in each image frame. These signals are
filtered by the gamma filters in order to compensate for the non-linear response of the
receiving cathode-ray tube and are then combined to generate the luminance
signal Y defined by Y=0.30ER+0.59E G+0.11EB and the chrominance signals defined by
U=EBY and V=ERY.
Various non-compatible standards are available: NTSC (Japan, USA, Canada,
Mexico, some South American countries and Asia), PAL (Europe, except France,
Australia, some South American countries and some African countries) and SECAM
(France, countries of the former USSR, Eastern countries and some African countries).
There are 525 lines per frame and 60 fields per second—that is 30 images per second—in
the NTSC standard; 625 lines per frame and 50 fields per second—that is 25 images per
second—in the PAL and SECAM standards.

52
 The synchronization signal consists of narrow pulses at the end of each line scan
for horizontal synchronization and a sequence of narrower and wider pulses at the end of
each field scan for vertical synchronization. The following figure shows a typical
composite television signal.

The following figure shows the generation of the composite television signal.
Composite
ER E R
*
Y video

+
Colou EG Gamm E *
U signal
G
r a Filter Matrix
Camera EB E B*
V
90o Phase
Shift

Subcarrier
Oscillator

The following figure shows a typical baseband television signal.

The luminance signal and the synchronization pulses require typically a base
bandwidth of 4.2 MHz. The baseband includes a dc component. The composite signal
containing the

53
luminance and synchronization information is fully compatible with the requirements
of monochrome (black-and-white) receivers.
Unlike the conventional TV broadcast system, to generate the uplink microwave
TV signal for transmission to a communications satellite transponder channel, the
composite video signal (going from 0 Hz to about 4.2 MHz typically) is added to two
or three FM carriers at frequencies of (typically 6.2, 6.8, and/or 7.4 MHz), which carry
audio information. This composite FDM signal is then, in turn, used to frequency
modulate the uplink microwave carrier signal, producing a signal with an rf bandwidth
of about 36 MHz. The availability of three possible audio signal carriers permits the
transmission of stereo and/or multilingual audio over the satellite link. The following
figure shows the generation of a satellite uplink signal for analog TV.
Composite video signal

Audio signal 1 FM Modulator

To be

+
combined with
6.2 MHz FM
Modulator fcup±18MHz
other uplink
Audio signal 2 FM Modulator channels

Uplink carrier, fcup

6.8 MHz

Audio signal 3 FM Modulator

7.4 MHz
Generation of a satellite uplink signal

Frequency Modulation:
The analog signals generally are transferred to the microwave carrier by means
of frequency modulation (FM). A major advantage associated with frequency modulation is
the higher signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver output compared with other analog
modulation methods. This improvement is due to three factors: (1) amplitude limiting, (2)
a property of FM which allows an exchange between signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth,
and (3) a noise reduction inherent in the way noise phase modulates a carrier. The signal-to-
noise ratio in FM is improved using the amplitude limiter and the preemphasis-deemphasis
circuit.
Limiter: The total thermal noise referred to the receiver input modulates the
incoming carrier in amplitude and in phase. The rf limiter circuit (often referred to as an
instantaneous or “hard” limiter) following the IF amplifier removes the amplitude
modulation, leaving only the phase-modulation component of the noise. The limiter is an
amplifier designed to operate as a class A amplifier for small signals. With large signals,
positive excursions are limited by the saturation characteristics of the transistor and
negative excursions generate a self-bias which drives the transistor into cutoff. Although
the signal is severely distorted by this action, a tuned circuit in the output selects the FM
carrier and its sidebands from the distorted signal spectrum, and thus the constant amplitude
characteristic of the FM signal is restored.
Preemphasis and deemphasis: The noise voltage spectral density increases in
direct proportion to the demodulated noise frequency. As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio
is worse at the high-frequency end of the base-band. To counterattack this, the high-
frequency components of the modulating signal are boosted up prior to the
modulation at the transmitter, a process known as the preemphasis and they are
attenuated severely at the
54
receiver, a process known as the deemphasis. The deemphasis cancels out the
preemphasis for the signal while attenuating the noise at the receiver. The noise
spectral density as a function of frequency and the preemphasis-deemphasis sequence
are illustrated in the following figures.

Noise voltage spectral density

(a) and (b) Effect of preemphasis on the modulating signal frequency response at
the transmitter. (c) and (d) Effect of deemphasis on the modulating signal and noise
at the receiver output.

55
Amplitude modulation:
In amplitude modulation, the instantaneous amplitude of the modulated signal
varies directly as the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal. The frequency
of the modulated signal remains the same as the carrier signal frequency.
If the modulating signal and the carrier signal are expressed respectively
by vm (t)  Vm cos mt and vc (t)  Vc cos ct , then the amplitude modulated signal v AM (t)
can be
expressed mathematically by v AM (t)  Vc (1  m cos mt) cos ct where m is called
the modulation index defined as the ratio of peak modulating voltage to peak carrier
voltage i.e.,
m  Vm Vc . The depth of modulation is usually expressed in percentage as
m 100 . The equation for the amplitude modulated signal can be expanded to
yield
mV mV
vAM (t)  Vc cos c t  c cos(c  m )t  c cos(c  m )t
2
Thus the frequency spectrum of an amplitude modulated signal in the case of a
2
single frequency modulating signal thus contains three frequency components, namely the
carrier frequency component c , the sum frequency component, c  m and the
difference frequency component, c  m . The sum component represents the upper side
band and the difference component the lower side band. The following figure shows
the frequency spectrum of an AM signal.

The total power, Pt in an AM signal can be expressed in terms of the

unmodulated carrier power, c as
 m2 m2 2


Pt Pcc 1 Pc m Pc  P
m 2 2  4 4

where cP represents the power in either of the two side bands. This expression
4
indicates that even for 100% depth of modulation, the power in the side band, which
carries the information, is only one-third of the total power. There are different forms
of amplitude modulation such as Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier (DSBSC) where
only the two side bands are transmitted suppressing the carrier signal fully, Single Side
Band Full Carrier (SSBFC) where only one side band with full carrier signal is used for
transmission, Single Side Band Reduced Carrier (SSBRC) where one side band with partial
carrier power is used for transmission, Signal Side Band Suppressed Carrier (SSBSC)
where only one side band is used for transmission and Vestigial Side Band transmission.
56
Modulation and Multiplexing: Data:
Digital baseband signals: Data transmission
Digital signals are coded representations of information. Analog signals such as
speech and video may be converted to a dig-ital form through an analog-to-digital (A/D)
converter. A binary symbol is known as a bit from binary digit. The digital information is
transmitted as a waveform known as digital waveform.
The duration of a bit is referred to as the bit period and is shown as Tb seconds. The
bit rate is given by Rb=(1/Tb) bits/second.
Bandwidth requirements may be reduced by utilizing multilevel digital waveforms.
For example, by arranging the bits in groups of two, four levels can be used. Each
level represents a symbol, the duration of which is the symbol period, Tsym. The symbol rate
is then Rsym=(1/Tsym). The symbol rate is measured in units of bauds, where one baud is one
symbol per second.
Speech and video appear naturally as analog signals, and these must be converted
to digital form for trans-mission over a digital link. The speech and video analog signals
are converted to digital form through the use of analog-to-digital converters. This is
depicted in the following figure.

The particular form of A/D conversion used is known as pulse-code

modulation (PCM). A voice channel bandwidth extending from 300 to 3400 Hz is
considered satisfactory for speech. Band limiting the audio signal in this way reduces noise.
It has another important consequence associated with the analog-to-digital conversion
process. The analog signal is digitized by taking samples at periodic intervals. A theorem,
known as the sampling theorem, states in part that the sampling frequency must be at least
twice the highest frequency in the spectrum of the signal being sampled. With the upper
cutoff frequency of the audio filter at 4 kHz, the sampling frequency can be standardized at
8 kHz.
The sampled voltage levels are encoded as binary digital numbers in the A/D
converter following the high-pass filter. The binary number which is transmitted actually
represents a range of voltages, and all samples which fall within this range are encoded
as the same number. This process, referred to as quantization. The quantization steps
follow a nonlinear law, with large signals being quantized into coarser steps than small
signals. This is termed compression, and it is introduced to keep the signal-to-
quantization noise ratio reasonably constant over the full dynamic range of the input
signal while maintaining the same number of bits per codeword.
At the receiver, the binary codewords are automatically decoded into the
larger quantized steps for the larger signals, this being termed expansion. The expansion
law is the inverse of the compression law, and the combined processing is termed
companding.
The base band digital signals have significant power in the lower part of the
frequency spectrum and hence they can be conveniently transmitted over a wired channel
but not over a wireless channel since this requires impractically large antennas.
Therefore for wireless
57
transmission, the digital signals are to modulate a high-frequency analog carrier.
The commonly used digital modulation techniques are the Amplitude Shift Keying
(ASK), Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) and Phase Shift Keying (PSK).
In the amplitude shift keying (ASK), the carrier signal is switched ON and
OFF depending on whether a ‘1’ or ‘0’ is to be transmitted i.e.,

The following figure shows the concept of the ASK.

The ON–OFF keying has the disadvantage that appearance of any noise
during transmission of bit ‘0’ can be misinterpreted as data. This problem can be
overcome by switching the amplitude of the carrier between two amplitudes, one
representing a ‘1’ and the other representing a ‘0’, as shown in the following figure.

In frequency shift keying (FSK), it is the frequency of the carrier signal that is
switched between two values, one representing bit ‘1’ and the other representing bit ‘0’,
as shown in the following figure.

The modulated signal in this case is represented by

58
 In the FSK, when the modulation rate increases, the difference between the two
chosen frequencies to represent a ‘1’ and a ‘0’ also needs to be higher. Due to the limit in
available bandwidth, it would not be possible to achieve a bit transmission rate beyond a
certain value.
In phase shift keying (PSK), the phase of the carrier is discretely varied with respect
to either a reference phase or to the phase of the immediately preceding signal
element in accordance with the data being transmitted. For example, when encoding bits,
◦ ◦
the phase shift could be 0 for encoding a bit ‘0’ and 180 for encoding a bit ‘1’, as shown
in the following figure.

◦ ◦
The phase shift could have been −90 for encoding a bit ‘0’ and +90 for encoding a bit
◦
‘1’. The essence is that representations for ‘0’ and ‘1’ are a total of 180 apart. Such PSK
systems in which the carrier can assume only two different phase angles are known as
binary phase shift keying (BPSK) systems. In this case the carrier signals used to represent
‘0’ and ‘1’ bits could be expressed by

◦ ◦
since the phase difference between two carrier signals is 180 i.e., 0+1=180 .
Another form of PSK is differential PSK (DPSK). In DPSK instead of
instantaneous phase of the modulated signal determining which bit is transmitted, it is the
change in phase that carries message intelligence. In this technique, if a digit changes in the
bit stream from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0, a ‘1’ is transmitted in the form of change in
phase of the modulated signal. In the case where there is no change, a ‘0’ is transmitted
in the form of no phase change in the modulated signal.
Another form of PSK is Quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). A QPSK modulator
is nothing but two BPSK modulators operating in quadrature. The input bit stream (d0, d1,
d2, d3, d4, d5,... ) representing the message signal is split into two bit streams, one having,
say, even numbered bits ( d0, d2, d4,... ) and the other having odd numbered bits (d1, d3,
d5,... ). One of the bit streams [ di(t )] feeds the in-phase modulator while the other bit
stream [ dq(t )] feeds the quadrature modulator. The following figures depict the QPSK
concept. The QPSK output will be any one of the following four possibilities,
{(cosctsinct), (cosct+sinct), (cosctsinct), (cosct+sinct)} depending on the
four possible combinations of di(t) and dq(t) i.e., {di(t), dq(t)}={(1, 1), (1, 1), (1, 1),
(1, 1)}. Since each symbol in QPSK comprises two bits, the symbol transmission rate
is half of the bit transmission rate of BPSK and the bandwidth requirement is halved. The
power spectrum for QPSK is the same as that for BPSK.

59
 cosct
di(t)

+
QPSK output
Serial-to-parallel
d(t)
converter
di(t) cos(t)d
c q(t)sin(t)
c
o
90 phase
shift

dq(t)

sint
c

QPSK modulator
In digital communications, time division multiplexing (TDM) is used for
simultaneous transmission of more than one pulsed signal over a common
communication channel. The following figure illustrates the concept. Multiple pulsed
signals are fed to a type of electronic switching circuitry, called a commutator. All the
message signals, which have been sampled at least at the Nyquist rate (usually at 1.1 times
the Nyquist rate) to avoid aliasing problems, are fed to the commutator. The
commutator interleaves different samples from different sampled message signals in
order to form a composite interleaved signal. This composite signal is then transmitted
over the link. In case all message signals have the same bandwidth, one commutation cycle
will contain one sample from each of the messages. Where signals have different
bandwidths, more samples would need to be transmitted per second of the signals
having larger bandwidths. At the receiving end, the composite signal is de-
multiplexed using a similar electronic switching circuitry that is synchronized with the
one used at the transmitter.

60
Multiple Access Techniques:
FDMA techniques:
In the FDMA system, all the earth stations in the network transmit their uplink
carriers simultaneously to the satellite transponder. That is, at any instant, a number of
earth stations access a common satellite transponder. Each carrier is assigned a frequency
band within the available RF bandwidth of the satellite transponder. Each earth station
may transmit one or more carriers to the satellite transponder. The entire uplink frequency
spectrum received by the satellite transponder is then translated to the respective downlink
frequency spectrum. A receiving earth station receives a particular uplink station by
tuning to and filtering off the proper band in the downlink spectrum.

The two most popular types of FDMA techniques are (i) the multichannel per
carrier and (ii) the single channel per carrier (SCPC).
(i) Multichannel per carrier:
In the multichannel per carrier, the transmitting earth station frequency-
multiplexes several single sideband suppressed carrier baseband channels into a
single baseband assembly, which frequency-modulates a RF carrier and is transmitted to
a FDMA satellite transponder. This type of FDMA is also referred to as FDM-FM-
FDMA. The following figure shows the block diagram of a FDM-FM-FDMA earth station.

61
Performance of a FDM-FM-FDMA system:
The performance of a FDM-FM-FDMA system can be described in terms of the
signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of a baseband channel at the FM demodulator output.
In frequency modulation, the carrier phase is varied in accordance with the
modulating baseband signal so that the modulated signal can be represented as


s(t)=Ac cos[ct+2kf m() d] ------------------ (1)
0

where Ac=carrier amplitude, c=carrier frequency, kf=a constant and

m(t)=modulating baseband signal.
Let us suppose, for simplicity, that the modulating baseband signal is a sinusoidal
tone i.e.,

m(t)=Am cosmt ------------------- (2)

Therefore,

s(t)=Ac cos[ct+(2kfAm/m) sin mt]

s(t)=Ac cos[ct+(f/fm) sin mt] ----------------- (3)

s(t)=Ac cos[ct+M sin mt] ---------------------- (4)

where f=kfAm is the peak frequency deviation and M=f/fm is the modulation index.
To find the output signal-to-noise ratio of a baseband channel in a FDM-FM system,
let us consider the FM demodulator shown in the following figure.

62
 The IF filter is assumed to have ideal center frequency fc and bandwidth BIF and
pass the signal s(t) without distortion. The limiter eliminates amplitude fluctuations due to
noise. The output of the IF filter x(t) is the sum of the signal s(t) and noise n(t) i.e.,

x(t)=s(t)+n(t) ------------------ (5)

x(t)=Ac cos[ct+(t)]+n(t) ------------------- (6)

where

(t)=(f/fm) sin mt =(kfAm/fm) sin mt ------------------ (7)

The narrowband noise n(t) can be expressed in terms of its envelope (magnitude)
r(t) and phase (t) as follows:

n(t)=r(t) cos[ct+(t)] --------------- (8)

n(t)=r(t) cos (t) cos ctr(t)sin (t) sin ct

n(t)=nI(t) cos ct nQ(t) sin ct ----------------- (9)

where

nI(t)=r(t) cos (t) and

-------------------- (10)
nQ(t)=r(t) sin (t)

are the in-phase and quadrature components of n(t), respectively.

The following figure shows the power spectral densities (PSP) of n(t), nI(t) and nQ(t),
respectively.

The following figure shows the phasor diagram of x(t).

63
 From the above phasor diagram, we have
1
(t)(t)=tan [v/(Ac+u)]
1
(t)(t)=tan {[r(t) sin[(t)(t)]]/[Ac+r(t) cos[(t)(t)]}

The phase of the phasor representing x(t), therefore, is

1
(t)=(t)+tan {[r(t) sin[(t)(t)]]/[Ac+r(t) cos[(t)(t)]}

For low-noise case, Acr(t). Therefore, since 1cos1 and 0sin1,

1 1
tan {[r(t) sin[(t)(t)]]/[Ac+r(t) cos[(t)(t)]}tan {[r(t) sin[(t)(t)]]/Ac}

1
tan {[r(t) sin[(t)(t)]]/[Ac+r(t) cos[(t)(t)]}[r(t)/Ac] sin[(t)(t)]
1
since [r(t)/Ac]<<1 and tan as 0. Hence

(t) (t)+[r(t)/Ac] sin[(t)(t)]

(t) (t)+(t) -------------------- (11)

where

(t)=[r(t)/Ac] sin[(t)(t)] --------------- (12)

represents the noise at the output of IF filter. Thus, the phase of the phasor representing
x(t) consists of the signal term (t) and the noise term (t).
The discriminator differentiates (t) to extract the message (baseband) signal.
Hence, the output of the discriminator is

y(t)=(1/2)[d(t)/dt]

y(t)=(1/2)[d(t)/dt]+(1/2)[d(t)/dt]

Since (t)=(kfAm/fm) sin mt,

y(t)=kfm(t)+(1/2)[d(t)/dt]

y(t)=Kfm(t)+no(t) ----------------- (13)

Thus, the baseband signal m(t) is recovered. The second term

no(t)=(1/2)[d(t)/dt] ------------------------ (14)

represents the noise at the output of the discriminator.

Since, in the noise term (t), the phase (t) of the baseband signal phasor varies
more slowly than that (t) of the noise, (t) can be approximated as a constant . Hence

64
(t) [r(t)/Ac] sin[(t)]

(t) [r(t)/Ac] sin (t) cos [r(t)/Ac] cos (t) sin 

(t) [nQ(t)/Ac] cos [nI(t)/Ac] sin ------------------ (15)

Hence, the power spectral density of the noise term (t) at the input of the
discriminator is
2 2 2 2
S=[cos /Ac ]SnQ(f)+[sin /Ac ] SnI(f) ------------------- (16)

Since SnQ(f)=SnI(f)=No
2
SQ=No/Ac ----------------------- (17)

Since the transfer function of the discriminator is if, the power spectral density of
the noise no(t) at the output of the discriminator is
2
Sno(f)=(2if/2) S(f)
2 2
Sno (f)=(Nof /Ac ) ----------------------- (18)

Since the baseband signal is limited to the maximum frequency fm and FDM
uses single-sideband transmission, the noise power N for a baseband channel of
bandwidth b (corresponding to single-sideband) at the output of the discriminator is

N=2bSno(fm)
2 2
N=2bNofm /Ac ------------------- (19)

The signal power at the output of the discriminator from Equ(13) is

2 2
S=(kf Am )/2
2
S=(f) /2
2
S=fr ---------------- (20)

where

fr=(f/2) --------------- (21)

is the rms frequency deviation.

Hence, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio at the output of the discriminator (FM
modulator) is
2 2 2
(S/N)=(Ac fr )/(2bNofm ) -------------------- (22)

Since the carrier power C is

65
 2
C=(Ac /2) ------------------- (23)

and the noise power N in the RF bandwidth B IF is

N =BIFSn(f)

N =BIFNo ------------- (24)

the carrier-to-noise ratio at the input of the FM demodulator is

2
(C/N )=Ac /(2NoBIF) -------------------- (25)

2
(S/N)=(C/N )(BIF/b)(fr/fm) ---------------- (26)

2
(C/N )=(S/N)(b/BIF)(fm/fr) ----------------- (27)

(ii) Single channel per carrier (SCPC):

In this technique, each baseband channel frequency-modulates a separate RF carrier
and is transmitted to the satellite transponder on the FDMA basis. The single channel per
carrier (SCPC) is suitable for those earth stations that handle relatively less traffic i.e.,
when only few channels per link are required. FM-SCPC systems are the most commonly
used systems because of their attractiveness in terms of cost and simplicity.

Performance of a FM-SCPC system:

The performance of a FM-SCPC system can be described in terms of the signal-to-
noise (S/N) ratio at the FM demodulator output as in FDM-FM-FDMA. Since there is
only one channel per carrier, the noise power N is obtained by integrating Equ(18) from fm
to fm i.e.,

fm
2

N=(No/Ac ) f df
2

fm
3 2
N=(2Nofm )/3Ac -------------- (28)
2
Since S=(f) /2
2 2
(S/N)=[3Ac /4Nofm](f/fm) ---------------- (29)
2
Since (C/N )=Ac /2NoBIF,

2
(S/N)=(3/2)(C/N )(BIF/fm)(f/fm) ---------------- (30)

Bandwidth BIF requirement of (i) FDM -FM-FDMA and (ii) FM-SCPC systems:
(i) In case of a FDM-FM-FDMA system, the IF bandwidth BIF is given by the Carson’s
rule

66
BIF=2(f+fm) --------------- (1)

where f is the FDM peak frequency deviation given by

f=lbfr ------------------- (2)

where l is called the “loading factor”, which, for n baseband channels per carrier is given by

1+4logn n240
20 log10l= -------------------- (3)
15+10logn n240

and g is called the “peak factor” which for n baseband channels per carrier, is given by

18.8 dB n24
g= --------------------- (4)
10 dB n24

The product lfr is the rms multicarrier deviation.

(ii) In case of a FM-SCPC system, the IF bandwidth BIF is given by the Carson’s rule as

BIF=2[f+fm] -------------------- (5)

where f=peak frequency deviation.

Intermodulation products resulting from nonlinearity characteristics of HPA (TWTA):

Intermodulation occurs when a multicarrier signal passes through a device that
exhibits
nonlinearity characteristics. The most commonly used high power amplifier TWTA
exhibits both amplitude and phase nonlinearities leading to the occurrence of
intermodulation products. The effect of intermodulation products caused by amplitude
nonlinearity is more dominant than that caused by phase nonlinearity. Therefore, let us
consider the effect of intermodulation products caused by amplitude nonlinearity alone.
Let us assume that the input consists of n carriers with equal frequency separation
and equal amplitude. The multicarrier transfer characteristics of a TWTA can be
represented by an odd polynomial as follows.
3 5
vo=a1vi+a3vi +a5vi … --------------------- (1)

where v0=output voltage of TWTA, vi=input voltage, ai=constant with alternate positive
and negative values.
Let the equal-amplitude n-carrier input be

vi= Ac cos[it+i(t)] ----------------------------- (2)

i=1

Substitution of Equ(2) in Equ(1) yields

67
 n

vo= B cos[ t+(t)]+IM+H -------------------

n i

(3) i=1

where H consists of harmonics KI that can be filtered out and IM is the
intermodulation products that fall within the RF bandwidth of the downlink. Such
intermodulation products occur at ifrequencies i+ii+1 ,  +i+1 i+2 and so on.
Among these intermodulation products, the third-order types at frequencies
i+ii i+1
and  +i+1 i+2 are the most dominant and to a lesser extent the fifth-
order types at frequency 3i2i+1 . Bn is the amplitude of the individual output carrier.
If V2,1 and V1,1,1 represent the amplitudes of the third-order intermodulation products
at frequencies 2ii+1 andi  +i+1 i+2 and D2,1(r,n) and D1,1,1(r,n) represent the numbers
of such third-order intermodulation products that fall right thon the r carrier, then the
th
carrier-to-(third-order) intermodulation ratio (C/I)r of the r output carrier is given by
2 2 2
(C/I)r=Bn /[D2,1(r,n)V2,1 +D1,1,1(r,n)V1,1,1 ---------------------- (4)

To utilize the maximum available satellite EIRP, the TWTAs have to be operated at
or near their saturation. However, the nonlinear characteristics of a TWTA are dominant
near saturation. This helps the inference by the intermodulation products. Therefore, the
input power lever of a must be reduced by an amount called the input backoff BOi which
for the given carrier is the decibel difference between its input power level at saturation
in single-carrier mode of operation and its input power level in the desired multicarrier
mode of operation so that the TWTA can operate in a more linear portion of its
characteristics. Reducing the input power level by BOi causes a reduction in output
power by an amount called the output backoff BOo, which is smaller than BOi. Thus,
operating the TWTA with an output power backoff BOo reduces the interference by the
intermodulation.
The following figure explains the concept of input and output backoffs.

From the figure, we have

2 2
BOo=B1 /nBn ------------------------- (5a)

or

68
 2 2
[BOo] dB=[B1 ] dB [nBn ] dB ------------------ (5b)

The following figure shows the comparison between BOo C/I and C/N. The
optimum BOo is the print where C/N ratio reaches its maximum.

Time division multiple access (TDMA):

In a TDMA system, each earth station is assigned a prescribed time slot in which it
can transmit through a common satellite transponder. That is a number of earth stations
share the total transmission time of a common satellite transponder. Since, at any
instant, only one earth station utilizes the entire bandwidth of the transponder, no
intermodulation or carrier suppression occurs. The following figure shows the schematic
diagram of a TDMA system.

TDMA frame structure:

Each earth station transmits its traffic information in bursts in its allotted time slots.
The transponder transmits the received bursts in frames. A frame consists of two reference
bursts traffic bursts and guard time between bursts. The following figure shows a typical
TDMA frame structure.

69
Burst structures:
Reference burst: Usually, each frame consists of two reference bursts, RB1 and RB2
for reliability. One of these reference bursts is called the primary reference burst (PRB)
which is transmitted by the primary reference station (PRS) and the other is called the
secondary reference burst (SRB) which is transmitted by the secondary reference station
(SRS). The reference bursts carry no traffic information and are used to provide timing
references for all the earth stations that access a common satellite transponder. The
following figure shows a typical reference burst structure.

Traffic bursts: The traffic bursts transmitted by the traffic stations carry
traffic information. Each traffic station can transmit one or more traffic bursts per TDMA
frame and position them anywhere in the frame according to a burst time plan that
coordinates traffic between stations. The length of a traffic burst depends upon the
amount of information it carries. The following figure shows a typical traffic burst
structure.

70
 Guard time: The guard time between burst is required to make sure that no two
bursts overlap when they arrive at a common transponder. The guard time is normally
equal to the time interval required to detect the receive frame timing at a station. There is
no transmission of information during the guard time.
Carrier and clock recovery (CCR) sequence: Any burst whether it’s a RB or a TB
begins with a sequence of bits (or symbols) called the carrier and clock recovery (CCR)
sequence with which station demodulator recovers the carrier phase and regenerates bits (or
the symbol timing clock for data demodulation). The length of the CCR sequence has an
effect on the carrier-to-noise ratio and acquisition range. A high carrier-to-noise ratio and
acquisition range require a short CCR sequence and vice versa.
Unique word (UW): In a reference burst, the unique word that follows the CCR
sequence provides the receive frame timing (RFT) with which a station locates the position
of a traffic burst in the frame. The instant of occurrence of the last bit (or symbol) of the
PRB’s unique word marks the receive frame timing.
In a traffic burst, the unique word that follows the CCR sequence provides the
receive burst timing (RBT) with which a station locates the position of the required sub-
bursts. The instant of occurrence of the last bit (or symbol) of the TB’s unique word
marks the receive burst timing.
Signaling channel: The signaling channel in the reference burst consists of the following
sub-bursts:
(a) Order wire channel: The order wire channel sub-burst carries voice and data
traffic through which instructions are passed to and from the transmit and
receive earth stations.
(b) Management channel: The management channel sub-burst carries (1) the burst
time plan that describes the coordination of the traffic between stations and
burst positions and (2) position, length and source or destination station
corresponding to sub-bursts in the bursts.
(c) Transmit timing channel: The transmit timing channel sub-burst carries (1)
the synchronization information with which the stations adjust their transmit
burst timing so that the bursts arrive at the transponder within the correct time
slots and (2) status codes with which the stations identify the primary reference
burst and secondary reference burst from RB1 and RB2.
The signaling channel of the traffic burst consists of the following sub-bursts:
(a) Order sire channel: The order wire channel sub-burst is the same as the order
wire channel sub-burst of the reference burst.
(b) Service channel: The service channel sub-burst carries the status of the
traffic stations to the reference station.
In the traffic burst, the CCR sequence, the unique word and the signaling channel
are collectively known as preamble.
Besides these sub-bursts in the preamble, both reference and traffic bursts can
carry sub-bursts containing the frame identification number (for frame management
purposes), station identification number and type of transmitting bursts (primary
reference burst, secondary reference burst or traffic burst). Different combinations for
unique words can be employed to provide burst identification.
Traffic data: The traffic data that follows immediately the preamble consists of one or
more traffic information sub-bursts, which carry the information from the calling
user being communicated to the called user. The information may be voice, data, video
or facsimile signals.

71
TDMA frame efficiency:
The TDMA frame efficiency is defined as the ratio of the traffic portion of the frame-
to-frame length Tf. If the overhead portion of the frame is T x , then the frame efficiency is

f=[(TfTx)/Tf]X100%

If there are n bursts in the frame, then

Tx=nTG+ T p
i
i=0

where TG is the guard time and Tpi is the preamble of burst i.

Frame acquisition and synchronization:

In a TDMA system, every traffic station on the receive side, must be able to receive
the traffic bursts addressed to it from a satellite transponder periodically every frame.
Similarly, every traffic station, on the transmit side must be able transmit their traffic
bursts addressed to other stations periodically every frame in such a way that the bursts
arrive at a satellite transponder in their prescribed time slots. Therefore all the traffic station
in a TDMA network must perform the following four procedures so as to synchronize their
traffic bursts with the reference bursts:
(i) Receive frame acquisition
(ii) Receive frame synchronization
(iii) Transmit frame acquisition
(iv) Transmit frame synchronization
The process of acquiring the receive frame timing which is the instant of occurrence
of the last bit of the PRB’s unique word is called the receive frame acquisition (RFA).
The process of acquiring the transmit frame timing is called the transmit frame acquisition
(TFA). The process of maintaining these timings are called the receive frame
synchronization (RFS) and transmit frame synchronization (TFS). The acquisition process
is required when a traffic station enters or reenters TDMA operation. The synchronization
process is required because of satellite movement in the orbit.
The receive frame acquisition and receive frame synchronization are achieved
by detecting the unique word of the reference burst. There are two UW detection modes:
the search mode and the track mode. In the search mode, the traffic station’s unique
word detector continuously checks the input bit-sequences for the unique word of the
reference burst. In this mode, the detection threshold E is set to 0. That is, the unique word
is declared detected only when the received N-bit sequence matches exactly with the
stored version of the unique word. As soon as the unique word of the reference burst is
detected, the search mode switches to the track mode with a narrow aperture window equal
to or wider than the guard time between bursts. Then, the detection threshold is increased to
E.
The transmit frame acquisition and transmit frame synchronization are achieved
as follows: The traffic stations that operate in a single beam such as a global beam or a
regional beam are able to receive their own traffic burst. Such a traffic station transmits a
short burst which is usually the preamble of a traffic burst at an estimated offset N
relative to the receive frame timing which marked by the primary reference burst’s
(or the secondary reference burst’s) unique word. Then it receives its own burst and
checks for the offset BN, the difference between the receive frame timing and receive burst
timing which should be on
72
the receive side. Until the offset BN becomes correct, the process is continued. This concept
is shown in the following figure. This technique is called loopback control.
Correct position
Actual position
BN  BN

RB RB TB TB RB RB TB
Satellite time

RB
TB N BN N BN Station time
RB
TB
Station 1 Station 2 Station 3
RB burst slot burst slot burst slot
PRB
SRB

PRB
TB
RB
TB
PRB
SRB

PRB

N bits
PRB
SRB

PRB

N bits
PRB
SRB

PRB

Transmit burst aquisition

The traffic stations that operate in multiple beams may not be able to receive their
own bursts. In this case, the reference station supplies the control information to the traffic
stations for transmit frame acquisition and synchronization. This information is
contained in the transmit timing channel sub-burst of the PRB (or SRB). The traffic
stations can get the transmit frame timing and transmit burst timing by decoding this
information. This technique is called feedback control.

Unique Word (UW) detector:

At the demodulator, the unique word either in a reference burst or in a traffic
burst enters a unique word detector like the digital correlator shown in the following figure.

73
Unique word to
be detected Preset
threshold E
1 2 N



Modulo 2
adder

 
Threshold
detector
Unique word
detection pulse

1 2 N

Unique word in storage

Unique word detector

The unique word detector consists of two N-bit shift registers (where N is the length
of unique word), N modulo-2 adders, a summer and a threshold detector. Each bit of
the received N-bit sequence is modulo-2 added with the respective bit of the stored version
of the UW. The output of any modulo-2 adder will be a logic zero if the received bit agrees
with the stored one. All the modulo-2 adder outputs are summed and the sum is compared
to a preset threshold E by the threshold detector. Hence, the output of the summer is a
step function representing the number of agreements and disagreements between the
received N-bit sequence and the stored version of the UW. When the correlation errors or
less than or equal to the detection threshold E which is the maximum number of bits by
which the received N bit sequence can differ from the stored version of the UW, detection of
the UW is declared.
Two possible errors can occur in the detection of the UW. One possible error is that
the detector may fail to recognize the UW. ( In situation such as when more than E
bits are erroneous due to some unexpected cause, though the received N-bit sequence is
the desired UW, it will be rejected.) This is called a miss. The other possible error is
that any N-bit sequence that matches the stored version of the UW can be declared as the
correct UW. This is called a false alarm.
Let E be the detection threshold as defined before , N be the number of bits
(symbols) in the UW and P be the probability that a received bit can be erroneous. Then, the
probability that a received N-bit sequence can be declared as the correct UW is
E

P= NC P (1P)
i
i NI
------------------ (40)
i=0

Then, the probability of a miss is

N

Q=1P= 
NCi P (1P)
i Ni
---------------------- (41)
i=E+1
N
All possible combinations of N binary bits is 2 . Then the probability of occurrence
N
of one unique combination that matches the stored version of the UW is 1/2 .A received
N-bit

74
sequence will be declared as the correct UW if the number of erroneous bits is less or equal
to E. The number such combinations is

 NC i

i=0

Therefore, the probability of a false alarm is

E
N
F=(1/2 )  NC -------------------- (42)
i

i=0

Channelized FDMA and SS-FDMA:

For a SS-FDMA system, the uplink frequency spectrum is required to be
channelized. Besides, channelization improves the system over carrier suppression and
intermodulation effect as is to be seen in the following discussion.
Since in FDMA, a number of carriers are transmitted simultaneously to a
satellite transponder, a mixture of both strong and weak carriers is to use the satellite
transponder at any instant of time. In such a case the strong carrier will tend to suppress the
weak carriers in the downlink. To avoid this, the total available RF bandwidth of the
satellite transponder is divided into smaller bandwidths called the satellite transponder
channels and the uplink carriers are assigned frequency bands so that the uplink carriers
of the same satellite power level are grouped together in a bandwidth (i.e., in a transponder
channel).
Channelization is achieved in two ways. One way is to use a separate RF filer and
a channel amplifier for each channel to use a common high power amplifier (HPA). The
gains of the channel amplifiers are adjusted individually so that all the carriers that
arrive at the input of the HPA will be roughly at the same power level. The main
disadvantage of this method is that the total available power of the common HPA has to be
divided among all the carriers that fall within the entire RF bandwidth of the satellite
transponder.

Another way is to use a separate HPA for each channel so that the total available
power of each HPA has to be divided only among the carriers that fall within its own
bandwidth. This method improves the satellite reliability. The main disadvantages of this
method are its
75
complexity, weight due to additional HPAs and additional electrical power requirement.
In this method each channel becomes a separate transponder.

The channelized FDMA is suitable for operation with multiple spot beams, each
spot beam covering a particular set of earth stations. Any uplink beam consisting of one or
more uplink carriers from any uplink earth station is channelized using a separate carrier
filter for each carrier in the beam. Then each carrier is routed to the respective spot beam
covering the earth station the carriers are intended for. The routing is performed by an on-
board switching matrix, which could be a microwave diode gate matrix. An uplink carrier
to be routed to a particular spot beam must be assigned a specific frequency band in
each uplink beam i.e., each uplink station has to select the appropriate frequency band
for the downlink earth station. This band is different for each uplink beam (i.e., each
uplink station). That is, the frequency band assigned to an uplink station for a downlink
beam cannot be used by another uplink station for the same downlink beam. Thus, the
routing must be predetermined so that the switching matrix can be hardwired in. Hence, the
traffic pattern cannot be altered.

SS-TDMA:
The SS-TDMA system employs multiple spot beams. The interconnectivity of
uplink beams (UB) with proper downlink beams (DB) is achieved by a programmable
on-board microwave diode switch matrix. The following figure shows the connectivity for
three uplink beams and three downlink beams.

76
 During a SS-TDMA frame, the satellite switch is controlled by a sequence of
switching modes of various durations. The duration of a switching mode is termed as a
window. If each uplink beam serves only one earth station (which is the case in the
figure), then a switching window equals a frame slot. If each uplink beam serves N earth
stations, then a switching window equals N frame slots. (This is because at any instant
only one burst (whose duration equals one slot minus guard time) will arrive at the
satellite, irrespective of the fact whether each uplink beam serves only one earth station
or more.) In the figure, during the first switching window (w1), uplink beam 1 (UB1) is
interconnected to downlink beam3 (DB3), uplink beam2 to downlink beam2 and uplink
beam3 to downlink beam1. During the second switching window, uplink beam1 is
interconnected to downlink beam2, uplink beam2 to downlink beam1 and uplink beam3
to downlink beam3, and so on. If the switch matrix cycles through all switching modes
during a frame, then an uplink station cycles through all possible receiving stations during
a frame. In essence, the SS-TDMA system operates as a set of parallel TDMA systems.

Demand assignment multiple access (DAMA):

Consider a 96-channel burst from an earth station A. The 96-channel burst from
A consists of four sub-bursts (each of which is 24 channels wide) to received by four other
earth stations B, C, D and E, which know the position of burst A in the TDMA frame
and the positions of sub-bursts in burst A according to a burst time plan.
Suppose that the sub-burst for earth station B in burst A is full and a new call for
B arrives at A. The new call will receive a busy signal even though the remaining sub-
bursts in burst A are not full. This means that the capacity of earth station A is not
fully utilized.

77
Consider the situation where all the sub-bursts in burst A are full and a new call for any
of these four earth stations B, C, D and E arrives at A. The new call will receive a busy
signal even though other bursts in the TDMA frame are not full. This means that the
capacity of the satellite transponder is not fully utilized.
To improve the station’s efficiency it should become possible to establish a
call connection if there is any unoccupied channel in the station’s burst. After the
call is completed, the channel should be made available to other incoming calls. In other
words, the station’s capacity should be pooled. Similarly, the frame capacity should
be pooled to improve the satellite transponder efficiency. Pooling of capacities for
use only when a demand arises is called the demand assignment multiple access (DAMA).
Basically, there are two types of DAMA systems: (i) the centralized control
DAMA system (ii) the distributed control DAMA system.
In a centralized DAMA system, a master control station performs the pooling
of capacities and keeps an idle-busy table for each traffic station’s capacity and
satellite transponder’s capacity. The functions of the master control station are to
sense the call initiation at a traffic station (i.e., attend a request for duplex connection from
a traffic station), to locate the destination station, to determine the availability of channels
at the satellite or at the two stations, to assign a pair of channels, to let the two station
access each other through the satellite, and finally to determine when the call is completed
so as to release the duplex connection. This concept has been shown below.

In a distributed DAMA system, there is no master control station. Instead, each

traffic station keeps an idle-busy table for the satellite channel pool or that for its own
channel pool. If a traffic station keeps an idle-busy table for the satellite channel pool,
then a duplex connection can be set up. If a traffic station keeps an idle-busy table for its
own channel pool, only a simplex connection can be set up. This concept has been shown
below.

78
Case-1: Traffic station keeps an idle-busy table for the satellite channel pool.

Case-2: Traffic station keeps an idle-busy table for its own channel pool.

Code division multiple access (CDMA):

In code division multiple access (CDMA) satellite system, uplink stations are
identified by uniquely separable address codes embedded within the carrier waveform.
Thus, uplink earth station can access the entire bandwidth of a transponder whenever
desired. In other words, a number of uplink earth stations can access the entire bandwidth
of a transponder all the time, superimposing their waveforms on the downlink. Unlike the
DAMA system, the CDMA system does not require a centralized satellite network. A
receiving earth station identifies the carrier intended for it with the proper address code.
These address codes are usually in the form of periodic binary sequences that either
modulate the carriers directly or change the frequency state of the carriers. If the address
code directly modulates the carrier, then the system is referred to as the direct-sequence
CDMA (DS-CDMA). If the address code continually changes the frequency of the
carrier, then the system is referred to as the frequency-hopped CDMA (FH-CDMA).
Superimposing the address codes on modulated uplink carriers generally increases the
bandwidth. Due to this spreading of the carrier

79
spectrum, the CDMA system is also referred to as the spread-spectrum multiple
access (SSMA) system.

Direct sequence CDMA:

h
In a DS-CDMA system, thet i uplink station is assigned a digital address code
qi(t), which is a periodic binary sequence with binary symbols (chips) of width T sec.
th
and code length K (K chips per period). Each station has its own code. If the i station has
to transmit the binary data waveform di(t), it first forms the binary sequence

mi(t)=di(t) qi(t) --------------------- (1)

If Tb is the bit time of di(t), then Tb may be less than or equal to the period of qi(t).
That is,

Tb KT ------------------------- (2)

If Tb=KT, then each data bit modulates the polarity of qi(t) for full code period. If Tb
KT, then the data bit modulates the polarity of qi(t) for a portion of code period. Then,
the binary sequencei m (t) is phase-shift keyed directly onto the station uplink carrier.
This concept has been shown below.

Since each earth station can utilize the entire satellite bandwidth and a code has a
chip rate of 1/Tchips per second, each BPSK carrier will occupy a RF
bandwidth of approximately

BRF=(2/T) Hz ----------------------- (3)

80
Each earth station in the DS-CDMA system forms its PSK carrier in exactly the same
way, using the same RF carrier and RF bandwidth but its own address code qi(t). At the
satellite, the frequency spectra of all active carriers are superimposed in the RF
bandwidth of the satellite transponder. The satellite transponder translates the entire
uplink RF spectrum into the downlink RF spectrum, using either RF-RF conversion or RF-
IF-RF conversion.
The original bit stream can be recovered at the receiver by a synchronized copy of
PN sequence that was used in the transmitter. This concept has been explained in the
above figure.

Antijam advantages of spectral spreading:

It is assumed that an external source intentionally transmitting a noise signal into
the receiver to destroy the reception. The following figures depict the concept of
antijamming.

If the receiver noise, the interference from other stations and the satellite delay are
ignored, the only interference at the receiver is the jamming signal alone. The transmitter
uses a DS-CDMA modulated carrier in which a data rate Rb is spread to occupy a carrier
bandwidth of Bs Hz. The jammer produces a noise spectrum of bandwidth, Bj Hz and power
Pj watts at the receiver input. If Bj=Bs, then the jammer is said to be broadband or if Bj<Bs,
then the jammer is said to be partial band. If the received carrier power is Pc watts, then
the receiver input signal-to-jammer ratio (SJR) is given by SJRin =(Pc/Pj).
The receiver correlation operation using the coherent addressed carrier will despread
the bandwidth of the modulated carrier which was spread by a similar operation in the
transmitter but spread the bandwidth of the jamming signal leading to a noise spectral
level of Pj/Bs
81
watts/Hz. The bit integration over (0, Tb) filters the signal to a bandwidth of (1/Tb)
Hz producing a decoding SJR of
SJRout=Pc/[(Pj/Bs)(1/Tb)]=(Pc/Pj)(BsTb)= (Pc/Pj)(Bs/Rb)=SJRin(Bs/Rb)
Thus the spreading and despreading with the addressed carriers has produced a gain in SNR
by a factor of (Bs/Rb ).

Frequency-hopped CDMA (FH-CDMA);

In this mode of CDMA operation, the available RF bandwidth of the
satellite transponder is partitioned into frequency bands and the total transmission time into
time slots. A hopping pattern in this frequency-time matrix is defined as a sequence
of specified frequency bands, one for each time slot as shown in the following diagram.

A transmitter, which has been assigned a particular hopping pattern, jumps from
one time slot to the next according to the pattern, readjusting its carrier frequency from
one frequency band to the next. such a frequency-hopping transmitter has been shown below.

Hopping pattern can be obtained from a periodic binary sequence similar to the
address code. If such a periodic sequence is partitioned into blocks, then each block will
represent a

82
frequency band in the frequency-time matrix as shown below. Thus, a particular
periodic sequence specifies a particular hopping pattern.

If there are n frequency bands in the satellite RF bandwidth then a code sequence
of length K symbols (chips) each of width T will produce a hop every

TH=log2n/(1/T) seconds

TH=T log2n seconds

Then the hopping rate RH is

RH=1/TH=1/T log2n

RH=RC/log2n

RC=RH log2n

where RC=1/T is the code chip rate.

To increase the hopping rate RH it is necessary to increase the code chip rate RC.
Commonly employed modulation technique with frequency hopping is frequency
shift
keying (FSK). In binary FSK, one of two distinct carrier frequencies is used in each
band. when transmitting in a given band, the earth station transmits one of two carrier
frequencies for a time slot of sec. Hence, the bandwidth of the transmitted carrier is
2/Hz. Therefore, each carrier frequency must be separated by 2/Hz. The bandwidth BS
of the satellite can be partitioned into

n=(1/2)[BS/(2/)]=BS/4

If M-ary FSK is used (i.e., M distinct carrier frequencies per band are used), then
the number of bands supported by the satellite bandwidth BS is
n=(1/M)[BS/(2/)]=BS/2M

83
 Each earth station generates its own hopping pattern in a similar way. Transmission
is based on CDMA basis.

Energy dispersal:
When modulated, the total available carrier power in distributed among the carrier
and the sidebands. When unmodulated (i.e., when the baseband signal is absent) all the
power is at the carrier frequency. The satellite retransmits this unmodulated carrier back to
the earth. Since there is no modulation and all the available satellite power is at the carrier
frequency, the power spectral density or wattage per unit bandwidth of the retransmitted,
unmodulated carrier with high spectral power density will interfere with other
microwave terrestrial communications. To avoid such interference, the maximum
spectral power density that a satellite may radiate toward the earth has been limited. The
process of controlling the spectral power density radiated toward the earth is called the
energy dispersal. This is achieved by adding a symmetrical triangular waveform
called the energy dispersal signal to the modulating signal before modulation.
Therefore, even when the modulating signal is absent, the dispersal signal will modulate the
carrier, spreading the total available carrier power and thereby reducing the spectral power
density. Since minimum spectral power density requires maximum modulating amplitude,
usually in the absence of the modulating signal, a large dispersal signal is used to
modulate the carrier. This condition is known as fall loading in telephone practice.
The energy dispersal in case of television channels is quite different. The amplitude
of the dispersal signal is constant in this case. However, the dispersal signal frequency
must be synchronized with the field frequency of the video signal to prevent video
interference. Therefore, for a 525/60 standard, a 30 Hz waveform is used and for a 625/50
standard, a 25 Hz waveform is used. If the television signal occupies the full transponder
bandwidth known as full – transponder television, the energy dispersal level is kept constant
at 1 MHz peak-to-peak deviation irrespective of whether the video modulation is present or
not. In case of half-transponder television, the energy dispersal level is kept at 1 MHz PP
deviation when video modulation is present and is automatically increased to 2 MHz PP
deviations when video modulation is absent.

Encryption:
Encryption is used when it is wished to prevent unauthorized users exploiting,
or tampering with, transmitted messages. It consists of performing an algorithmic
operation, in real time, bit-by-bit o n the binary stream. T he set of parameters
that define the transformation is called the “key”. Not only the military satellite services
but also commercial satellite services propose encrypted links for commercial and
administrative networks.
The encryption and decryption units operate with a key provided by the key
generation units. Acquisition of a common key implies a secure method of key
distribution. Encryption consists of confidentiality (avoiding exploitation of the message by
unauthorized people) and authenticity (providing protection against modification of the
message by an intruder). Two techniques are used: 1) Online encryption (stream ciphering)
—each bit of the original binary stream (the plain text) is combined using a simple
operation (for example, modulo 2 addition) with each bit of a generated binary stream (the
keystream) produced by a key device. The key device could be, for example, a
pseudorandom sequence generator whose structure is defined by the key. 2) Encryption
by block (block ciphering)—the original binary stream is transformed into an
encrypted stream block by block according to logic defined by the key.
The following figure shows the principle of encrypted transmission.

84
Compression:
For compression please refer to the notes for Digital Image Processing.

Digital Video Broadcasting:

The DVB system is intended as a complete package for digital television and
data broadcasting. It is built on the foundation of the MPEG 2 standard, providing full
support for encoded and compressed video and audio, along with data channels for
a variety of associated information services. The MPEG standard provides for data
stream syntax to multiplex the required functions together. The DVB standard considers
the modulation and RF transmission format needed to support a variety of satellite and
terrestrial networking systems.
The overall philosophy behind DVB is to implement a general technical solution to
the demands of applications like cable TV and DTH. It includes the following features:
1) Information containers to carry flexible combinations of MPEG 2 video, audio and
data; 2) A multiplexing system to implement a common MPEG 2 transport stream (TS);
3) A common service information (SI) system giving details of the programs being
broadcast (this is the information for the on-screen program guide);
4) A common outer block coding scheme using the Reed-Solomon (RS) forward
error correction system that improves the reception by providing a low error rate;
5) Inclusion of energy dispersal to maintain spectral spread and interleaving to
improve performance in the presence of burst errors;
6) A flexible inner convolutional coding scheme using primarily the Viterbi algorithm
with the ability to adjust the code rate between R = 1/2 and R = 7/9 (rates higher than
1/2 are achieved through puncturing);
7) Modulation and additional channel coding systems, as required, to meet the
requirements of different transmission media (including FSS and BSS satellite delivery
systems, terrestrial microwave distribution, conventional broadcasting, and cable TV);
8) A common scrambling system;
9) A common conditional access (CA) interface (to control the operation of the receiver
and assure satisfactory operation of the delivery system as a business).
The origin of DVB is a pan-European program of industrial and
government cooperation which began in 1990. After a year, the group included
consumer electronics manufacturers and common carriers. After started, DVB followed
MPEG-2 standard. The group specified a family of DVB standards, including the
following.
1) DVB-S: the satellite DTH system for use in the 11/12-GHz BSS band, configurable to
suit a wide range of transponder bandwidths and EIRPs (the standard is also applied in C,
Ku, and Ka FSS bands);

85
2) DVB-C: the cable delivery system, compatible with DVB-S and normally to be used
with 8-MHz channels (e.g., consistent with the 625-line systems common in Europe,
Africa, and Asia);
3) DVB-CS: the satellite master antenna TV (SMATV—pronounced “smat-vee”)
system, adapted from the above standards to serve private cable and communities;
4) DVB-T: the digital terrestrial TV system designed for 7- to 8-MHz channels;
5) DVB-SI: the service information system for use by the DVB decoder to configure
itself and to help the user navigate the DVB bit streams;
6) DVB-TXT: The DVB fixed-format teletext transport specification;
7) DVB-CI: The DVB common interface for use in CA and other applications;
8) DVB-RCS: The return channel by satellite scheme being advanced as a mechanism
for two-way interactive services within a general broadcast context.

The satellite standard: DVB-S:

It provides a range of solutions that are suitable for transponder bandwidths between
26 and 72 MHz, available in BSS (Broadcast Satellite Service) and FSS (Fixed Satellite
Service) satellite systems. The basis of transmission is a single carrier that has multiple
digital video and audio channels multiplexed onto it.
DVB-S is a layered transmission architecture. At the highest layer we find the MPEG
2 payload, which contains the useful bit stream. As we move down the layers,
additional supporting and redundancy bits are added to make the signal less sensitive to
errors and to arrange the payload in a form suitable for broadcasting. The system uses
QPSK modulation and concatenated error protection based on a convolutional code and a
shortened RS (Reed-Solomon) code. Compatibility with the MPEG 2-coded TV
services, with a transmission structure synchronous with the packet multiplex, is
provided. All service components are time division multiplexed on a single digital
carrier at a constant bit rate. Bit rates and bandwidths can be adjusted to match the
needs of the satellite link and transponder bandwidth and can be changed during operation.
The video, audio, and other data are inserted into payload packets of fixed
length according to the MPEG Transport System packet specification. This top-level packet
is then processed as follows (adding additional bits).
1) The payload is converted into the DVB-S structure by inverting synchronization bytes
in every eighth packet header (the header is at the front end of the payload). There are
exactly 188 bytes in each payload packet, which includes program-specific information
so that the standard MPEG 2 decoder can capture and decode the payload. These data
contain picture and sound along with synchronization data for the decoder to be able to
recreate the source material.
2) The contents are then randomized according to a predetermined PRN (Pseudo
RaNdom) code. This assures that the resulting RF spectrum is always spread smoothly
across the occupied bandwidth.
3) The first stage of FEC (Forward Error Correction) is introduced with the outer code,
which is in the form of the RS fixed-length code.
4) A process called convolutional interleaving is next applied, where the bits are
rearranged in a manner to reduce the impact of a block of errors on the satellite link
(due to short interruptions from interference or fading).
5) The inner FEC is then introduced in the form of punctured convolutional code.
6) The final step is at the physical layer where the bits are modulated on a carrier using
QPSK using root-raised-cosine filtering to set the bandwidth at 1.35 times the symbol rate.
The end-to-end process of the DVB-S system is illustrated in the following figure.

86
The DVB-S baseline system: (a) transmitter and (b) receiver

87
 EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
UNIT IV
Earth station complex:
The following figure shows the block diagram of a typical transmit-receive
earth station.
Transmitting section

IF Modulation Up conversion

Combiner
Multiplexing/Demultiplexing

HPA
other terrestrial networks

Up conversion
IF Modulation
Interface to & from

Antenna
Diplexer

Antenna
Feed
IF
Down
Demodulation

Divider
conversion LNA
IF
Demodulation Down
conversion

Receiving section

Transmit-Receive Earth Station

(1) Earth station antennas: The two most popular earth station antennas are (i) the
paraboloid antenna with a focal point feed and (ii) cassegrain antenna.
(i) Paraboloid antenna: A typical paraboloid antenna with a focal point feed has
been shown in the following figure. This type of antenna consists of a reflector, which is a
section of the surface formed by rotating a parabola about its axis and a feed whose phase
center is located at the focal point of the paraboloid reflector. The size of the antenna is
represented by the diameter of the reflector. The feed is connected to a high-power
amplifier (HPA) and a low-noise amplifier (LNA) through an orthogonal mode transducer
(OMT), which is a three-port device.
On the transmit side, the signal energy from the output of the high-power amplifier
is radiated at the focal point by the feed and illuminates the reflector which reflects and
focuses the signal energy onto a narrow beam.

88
 On the receive side, the signal energy captured by the reflector converges on the
focal point and is received by the feed. The signal energy received by the feed is routed to
the input of the low-noise amplifier.
This type of antenna can easily be steered and gives reasonable gain efficiency of 50
to 60%.
(ii) Cassegrain antenna: This type of antenna consists of a paraboloid main
reflector whose focal point coincides with the virtual focal point of a hyperboloid sub-
reflector and a feed whose phase center is located at the real focal point of the hyperboloid
sub-reflector. The feed is connected to a high-power amplifier (HPA) and low-noise
amplifier (LNA) through an orthogonal mode transducer (OMT), which is a three-port
device.
On the transmit side, the signal energy from the output of the high-power amplifier
is radiated at the real focal point of the hyperboloid sub-reflector and illuminates the
convex surface of the sub-reflector which reflects the signal energy back as if it were
incident from a feed located at the common focal point of the main and sub-reflectors.
The reflected signal energy is again reflected and focused by the main reflector onto a
beam.
On the receive side, the signal energy captured by the main reflector is directed to
the focal point of the main reflector. However, the sub-reflector reflects the signal energy
onto its real focal point where the feed receives the signal energy, which is then routed to
the input of the low-noise amplifier.

(2) Interfacing: The function of the interface is to connect the terrestrial network to
the satellite station.
(3) Multiplexing/Demultiplexing: The function of the multiplexer (demultiplexer) is
to format the incoming (outgoing) base-band channels so as to prevent them from
intervening each other. The two most popular multiplex systems are the frequency-
division multiplex (FDM) system and time-division multiplex (TDM) system. In the FDM
system, each channel is assigned a separate carrier frequency i.e., the base-band signals
from each channel are modulated onto a separate carrier. In the TDM system, each base-
band channel is separated from the preceding and succeeding channels by a time delay.
The FDM system requires larger bandwidth requirement results in a reduced carrier-to-
noise ratio, which is undesirable. Besides, the FDM system requires a separate set of
modulator and BPF for each channel and
89
a carrier combiner. This makes the FDM system to be more expensive than the TDM
system. This is why the TDM system is preferred to the FDM system in an
increased traffic condition. The following figures show the schematic diagrams of a 3-
channel FDM system and a 3-channel TDM system, respectively.
LSB
A
A
DSBSC
Incoming
channels f, Hz
12 16
f, Hz
1 BPF

12 kHz A A Supergroup
A

1 2 3
f, Hz f, Hz
f, Hz 16 20 12 16 20 24
2 BPF

16 kHz
A

f, Hz
3 BPF
A

20 kHz f, Hz
20 24

Three-channel FDM
Channel Frames

1
TDM Frame
Switch

Three-channel TDM
(4) Earth station transmitter: The earth station transmitting section consists of (i) an
IF modulation section, (ii) an up-conversion section and (iii) an RF amplification (High
Power Amplifier (HPA)) section. The station would have a 1:1 redundancy for
the entire transmission section if it employs dual-polarization with separate
carriers. Separate redundancy is used for HPA section.
(i) IF modulation: Next to the multiplex block is the IF modulator block. The
IF modulator modulates the multiplexed base-band signal onto an IF carrier, which would
be in the MHz range.
(ii) Up-conversion (RF modulation): The function of the up-converter is to translate
the frequency of the IF carrier to an uplink frequency which is in the GHz (microwave)
range. In the up-conversion, the IF carrier is multiplied by RF carrier. The output of the
multiplier is passed through a bandpass filter, which selects the upper sideband alone.
Usually, more stages of up-conversion are required to translate the IF carrier to a desired
uplink frequency.

90
 Conversion process: The following figures show the schematic diagrams of a
single-conversion process and a dual-conversion process.
The first conversion of the IF carrier cos IFt by the first LO
carrier cos l1t yields (assuming l1IF)

[cos Ift].[cos l1t]=(1/2)[cos (l1IF)t + cos (l1+IF)t]

The first bandpass filter selects the upper sideband cos (l1+IF)t alone and the
second conversion by the second LO carrier cos l2t yields (assuming l2l1+IF)

[cos (l1+If)t].[cos l2t]=(1/2)[cos (l2l1IF)t + cos (l1+l2 +IF)t]

Mixer

ωIF Bandpass ω11+ω1F

Filter

ω11
Mixer 1 Mixer 2

ωIF Bandpass Bandpass ωu=ω12+ω11+ω1F

Filter 1 Filter 2

ω11 ω12
The second bandpass filter selects the upper sideband cos (l2+ l1+IF)t so that
the uplink carrier frequency u=l2+l1+IF. This suggests that l1 and l2 can be
arbitrarily chosen provided they satisfy the conditions l2+l1=uIF, l2 l1+IF and l1
IF.
In the single-conversion process, it is seen that a change in the uplink carrier
frequency u (e.g., transmitting to a different transponder) requires a change in the LO
frequency l and a change in the bandpass filter (retuning) which is inconvenient and
unacceptable in many earth stations. On the contrary, in the dual-conversion process,
the second IF frequency l1 +IF is fixed and is selected such that it is sufficiently larger
than the uplink frequency spectrum umin to umax. Therefore, the unwanted lower sideband
is always outside the uplink spectrum and hence the second bandpass filter can be
designed to select the entire uplink frequency spectrum and any change in the uplink
carrier frequency u will require only a change in the second LO frequency l2.
(iii) RF (High Power) amplification: The power level of the up-converted signal
is raised to about 8 KW to over 40 KW by a high power amplifier (HPA), which could be
an air-cooled traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) or a water-cooled Klystron amplifier.
TWT A: One of the most commonly used high power amplifier is the traveling
wave tube amplifier (TWTA), which uses the principle of velocity modulation. The up-
converted (RF) signal to be amplified travels down a periodic structure called the helix. The
helix slows down the propagation velocity of the RF signal to that of the electron beam
from a dc-controlled cathode. The direction of propagation of both the RF signal and the
electron beam must be the same. This results in an interaction between the electric fields
induced by the RF signal and electron beam. Due to this interaction, the energy from
the electron beam is transferred to the RF signal. Focusing the stream of electrons emitted
from the cathode onto a

91
narrow beam is achieved through the cylindrical magnets around the tube. The
exhausted electrons are collected by a collector, which is grounded. The following
figure shows the schematic diagram of a typical TWTA.

Redundancy configuration: Reliability is most important in satellite

communications. When a single high power amplifier (HPA) is used, the transmission
will stop upon its failure. Therefore, two or more HPAs are used with same sort of
redundancy configuration. The most basic redundancy configuration is the 1:1
redundancy. In this, the up-converted signal is equally divided by a power divider and fed
to the inputs of HPA-1 and HPA-2. The waveguide switch connects the output of HPA-1 to
the antenna feed and that of HPA-2 to a load, which dissipates the energy in the form of
heat. When HPA-1 fails, the waveguide switch automatically connects the output of HPA-
2 to the antenna feed. Since 1:1 redundancy requires more HPAs for a larger station
and hence is not economical, some other redundancies are used in most systems.

When 1:1 redundancy configuration is not economical, then dual polarization

is employed in a frequency reuse earth station since it requires four HPAs as shown in
the following figure.

92
 The 1:2 redundancy configuration shown in the following figure is economical
when dual polarization is employed and the earth station transmits only one carrier
in each polarization at any instant.

When two carriers are transmitted simultaneously in the same polarization, the
1:2 redundancy configuration shown in the following figure can be employed.

93
 The function of the diplexer is to provide an opportunity for both the transmission
and reception to take place simultaneously.
(5) Echo suppressors and echo cancellers: An impedance mismatch occurs for most of
the connections at the subscriber line-trunk interface. The effect of such a mismatch is
to reflect a part of the incoming signal onto the outgoing circuit, which returns to the
speaker as echo. The echo may be loud enough to annoy the speaker as it is amplified like
other signals in the return path. However, it may not be as strong as the speech signal from
the other party, since it experiences attenuation on two lengths of the transmission channel
before reaching the originator.
Short delay echoes are controlled by using attenuators and the long delay ones by
echo suppressors or echo cancellers. CCITT recommends the use of echo suppressors or
cancellers if the round trip delay exceeds 50 ms. Use of echo suppressors is mandatory
in satellite circuits as the round trip delay involved is several hundred milliseconds.
The attenuation required increases as the delay increases as shown in the
following figure.

The operation of an echo suppressor is illustrated in the following figure.

Echo suppressors are voice-activated attenuators. Normally the echo suppressors
remain in a deactivated state i.e., the attenuators are bypassed. Speech in one channel
activates the echo suppressor in the return path. In the figure, A’s speech activates the echo
suppressor EB and B’s speech E A. The figure depicts the situation when B is talking
and A is silent. If A attempts to talk at this juncture, his talk is also attenuated. He can,
however, turn off the echo suppressor by interrupting B loudly. The echo suppressor is
deactivated automatically a few millisecond after the talker stops speaking.

94
 One drawback of echo suppressor is that they may clip the beginning portion of
speech segments. If subscriber A begins talking at the tail end of B’s speech, his talk
spurt is not transmitted until the echo suppressors have had time to reverse directions.
New designs of echo suppressors attempt to minimize the time required to reverse
directions. Typical reversal times are in the range of 2-5 ms. The operation of a system
with echo suppressors is clearly half duplex.
Recent developments in electronics technology have paved the way for a new form
of echo control by echo cancellation. Echo cancellers do not physically insert attenuators
or bypass them; instead they process the incoming signal to eliminate the reflected
component from it. Transmitted speech is stored for a period of time equal to the round trip
delay of the circuit. The stored signal is attenuated by a quantity equal to the loop loss and
then subtracted from the incoming signal. An integrated circuit echo canceller
incorporating the functions just described is now available for use on satellite circuits.
It may be noted that echo cancellers eliminate speech clipping and permit full duplex
operation.
In the discussions so far, we considered only one reflection of the signal at the
listener’s end being echoed at the talker’s end. This is referred to as ‘talker echo’. If a second
reflection takes place at the talker’s end, ‘listener echo’ occurs. If repeated multiple
reflections occur, oscillations are produced and a condition known as ‘singing’ is said to
exist.
(5) Earth station receiver: The earth station receiving section consists of (i) an
RF amplification (Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)) section, (ii) a down-conversion section
and (iii) an IF demodulation section.
(i) RF (Low Noise) amplif ication: The two most commonly used low-noise
amplifiers are the parametric amplifier and the GaAs FET amplifier, which are capable
of providing very low noise temperature. Of these two, the GaAs FET amplifier is
cheaper, more stable and reliable than the parametric amplifier.
In a parametric amplifier, the amplification is achieved when a capacitive reactance
(a varactor diode) is varied electronically at some frequency higher than the frequency of
the signal to be amplified. The parametric amplifier consists of two resonant circuits, one
at the signal frequency s and the other at an idler frequency i. The two resonant
circuits are coupled by a voltage-variable capacitor (varactor). The capacitance is a
sinusoidal function of the pump frequency p=s+i. A circulator is employed to route
the input signal to be amplified at port-1 to the resonant circuits at port-2 and to
transfer the reflected amplified signal from the resonant circuits at port-2 to the load at port-
3.
The input matching network in the GaAs FET amplifier is employed to keep the
noise figure as minimum as possible over the entire amplifier bandwidth. The output-
matching network is employed to provide the highest possible gain.
95
 (ii) Down-conversion (RF demodulation): The function of the down-converter is
to translate the downlink frequency in the GHz range into the IF frequency in the MHz
range. Like the upconversion the downconversion can also be achieved with the single-
or dual-conversion as shown in the following figure.

(iii) IF demodulation: The IF demodulation retrieves the multiplexed baseband

signals from the IF carrier.

Receive-Only Home TV Systems:

Planned broadcasting directly to home TV receivers takes place in the Ku (12-
GHz) band. This service is known as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service. The
comparatively

96
large satellite receiving dishes (about 3-m diameter) which are a familiar sight around
many homes are used to receive downlink TV signals at C band (4 GHz). The major
differences between the Ku-band and the C-band receive-only systems lies in the frequency
of operation of the outdoor unit and the fact that satellites intended for DBS have much
higher EIRP. The Ku-band system is described here.
The following figure shows the main units in a home terminal DBS TV receiving system.

The outdoor unit:

This consists of a receiving antenna feeding directly into a low-noise
amplifier/converter combination. A parabolic reflector is generally used, with the
receiving horn mounted at the focus. A common design is to have the focus directly in
front of the reflector, but for better interference rejection, an offset feed may be used as
shown.
A satisfactory reception can be achieved with reflector diameters in the range 0.6 to
1.6 m (1.97 to 5.25 ft), and the two nominal sizes often quoted are 0.9 m (2.95 ft) and 1.2 m
(3.94 ft). By contrast, the reflector diameter for 4-GHz reception is typically about 3 m
(9.84 ft). Comparing the gain of a 3-m dish at 4 GHz with a 1-m dish at 12 GHz, the ratio
D/is 40 in each case and so the gains will be about equal. Although the free-space
losses are much higher at 12 GHz compared with 4 GHz, a higher-gain receiving
antenna is not needed because the direct broadcast satellites operate at a much higher
equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP).

97
 The downlink frequency band of 12.2 to 12.7 GHz spans a range of 500 MHz,
which accommodates 32 TV/FM channels, each of which is 24 MHz wide. Obviously, some
overlap occurs between channels, but these are alternately polarized left-hand circular
(LHC) and right-hand circular (RHC) or vertical/horizontal, to reduce interference to
acceptable levels. This is referred to as polarization interleaving. A polarizer that may
be switched to the desired polarization from the indoor control unit is required at the
receiving horn.
The receiving horn feeds into a low-noise converter (LNC) or possibly a
combination unit consisting of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) followed by a converter. The
combination is referred to as an LNB, for low-noise block. The LNB provides gain for
the broadband 12-GHz signal and then converts the signal to a lower frequency range so that
a low-cost coaxial cable can be used as feeder to the indoor unit. The standard
frequency range of this downconverted signal is 950 to 1450 MHz. The low-noise
amplification must be provided at the cable input in order to maintain a satisfactory signal-
to-noise ratio.
The indoor unit for analog (FM) TV:
The signal fed to the indoor unit is normally a wideband signal cover-ing the range
950 to 1450 MHz. This is amplified and passed to a track-ing filter which selects the
desired channel.
As polarization interleaving is used, and only half the 32 channels will be present at
the input of the indoor unit for any one setting of the antenna polarizer.
The selected channel is again downconverted, this time from the 950- to 1450-
MHz range to a fixed intermediate frequency, usually 70 MHz although other values in
the VHF range are also used. The 70-MHz amplifier amplifies the signal up to the levels
required for demodulation. A major difference between DBS TV and conventional TV is
that with DBS, frequency modulation is used, whereas with conventional TV, amplitude
modulation in the form of vestigial single sideband (VSSB) is used.

Master Antenna TV System:

98
 A master antenna TV (MATV) system is used to provide reception of DBS
TV/FM channels to a small group of users, for example, to the ten-ants in an apartment
building. It consists of a single outdoor unit (antenna and LNA/C) feeding a number of
indoor units, as shown in the above figure. It is basically similar to the home system
already described, but with each user having access to all the channels independently
of the other users. The advantage is that only one outdoor unit is required, but as
shown, separate LNA/Cs and feeder cables are required for each sense of polarization.
Compared with the single-user system, a larger antenna is also required (2- to 3-m
diameter) in order to maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio at all the indoor units.

Community Antenna TV System:

The community antenna TV system employs a single outdoor unit, with separate
feeds available for each sense of polarization, like the MATV system, so that all channels
are made available simultaneously at the indoor receiver. Instead of having a separate
receiver for each user, all the carriers are demodulated in a common receiver-filter
system as shown in the above figure. The channels are then combined into a
standard multiplexed signal for transmission over cable to the subscribers.
In remote areas where a cable distribution system may not be installed, the signal can
be rebroadcast from a low-power VHF TV transmitter.
With the CATV system, local programming material also may be distributed
to subscribers, an option which is not permitted in the MATV system.

Test Equipment Measurements on G/T (Figure of Merit (FOM)), C/No and EIRP:
The following figure shows the schematic arrangement of a possible test set-up that
can used for measurement of receiver figure-of-merit i.e., G/T ratio.
The underlying principle for measurement of G/T is as follows. The downlink carrier
to noise spectral density C/No and the corresponding satellite EIRP are measured.
G/T is obtained by re-arranging the downlink equation. Though the method is simple; it is
prone to inaccuracies due to its susceptibility to variations the in atmospheric loss.
The antenna under test (AUT) measures the received power level of either
an unmodulated beacon, or a test carrier. The downlink EIRP of the unmodulated beacon or
the test carrier is also measured. The receive system noise contribution is then
measured by steering the antenna off the spacecraft and measuring the noise floor. The
difference between

99
the two measurements is the downlink C/N ratio. From this the downlink, C/No is
calculated by taking into account corrections required for the effects of the system
thermal noise, spectrum analyzer detection non-linearity and noise bandwidth. G/T is
then computed by solving the downlink equation.

Another method used for measurement of receiver G/T is the Gain and
System Temperature Method. This test procedure requires measurement of receiver gain
and system noise temperature to obtain G/T. This method leads to more accurate results than
are obtained by the spectrum analyser method described above. Receiver gain can be
measured either by pattern integration technique or by determination of 3 dB and 10 dB
beamwidths. In the case of pattern integration technique, azimuth and elevation narrow-
◦
band ( ±5 corrected) patterns are measured. Directive gain of the antenna is then
measured through integration of the sidelobe patterns. The receiver gain is then
determined by reducing the directive gain by the antenna inefficiencies. The following
figure shows the test set-up for measurement of receiver gain.

The system noise temperature can be calculated from what is known as Y-

factor measurement where Y represents the difference in the noise power when the input
to the receive system is terminated in hot and cold loads. In order to measure the
system noise temperature, the noise power is measured for hot and cold load conditions. The
antenna under

100
test is pointed towards the clear sky to simulate the cold load condition. An input
waveguide load at the ambient temperature provides the hot load. This waveguide load
typically forms an integral part of the LNA redundancy switching system. It can be
switched in or out using the LNA controller. The difference between the noise power
levels measured with hot and cold loads is the Y-factor. The system noise temperature can
then be computed with the help of expression given by
T  TLNA
T sys  load
  Y 

where 
Tsys  system noise temperature in K
TLNA noise temperature of LNA in K
Tload noise temperature of waveguide/test load in K
Then the receiver G/T ratio is measured using
G / T GR 10log10 Ts ys

where
G / T receiver G/T ratio in dB/K
GR receiving gain of antenna in dB
Tsys receiver noise temperature in K
The following figure shows the test set-up for measurement of receiver
noise temperature.

101
 EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
UNIT V
Intelsat Satellite System:
Intelsat Limited is the world’s largest commercial satellite communications
service provider. Originally, it was formed as the International Telecommunication
Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) in 1964 to own and manage a constellation of GEO
satellites that could provide international communication services mainly including video,
voice and data services to the telecom, broadcast, government and other communications
markets.
Till 2011 10 series of Intelsat satellites have been launched with each series offering
a significant upgrade in terms of capability and the quality of services offered. In
February 2007, Intelsat changed the names of 16 of its satellites formerly known under
the Intelsat Americas and PamAmSat series to Galaxy and Intelsat series respectively.
These satellites basically serve four regions including the Atlantic Ocean Region
(AOR) – covering North America, Central America, South America, India, Africa and
western portions of Europe; the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) – covering Eastern Europe,
Africa, India, South East Asia, Japan and Western Australia; the Asia Pacific Region
(APR) – covering Eastern Europe, the former USSR and all the regions from India to Japan
and Australia; and the Pacific Ocean Region (POR) – covering Southeast Asia to Australia,
the Pacific and the western regions of America and Canada. These coverage regions
overlap with each other providing truly global services covering almost every country.
The following table enumerates salient features of the various satellites owned
by Intelsat limited.

Satellite Transponders Stabilization Location

◦
Intelsat 1 1 transponder (240 circuits Spin Intelsat 1 1 (332 E) over
(comprising of one or one TV channel) AOR
satellite Intelsat 1 1)
Intelsat 2 2 VHF transponders each Spin Intelsat 2 1, 2 2 and 2 4
(comprising of four (240 two-way telephone over the POR, 2 3 over
satellites Intelsat 2 1, circuits or one two-way the AOR
2 2, 2 3 and 2 4) TV channel)
Intelsat 3 1500 voice or 4 TV Spin Intelsat 3 2, 3 6, 3 7 over
(comprising of 8 channels the AOR, 3 3 over the
satellites Intelsat 3 1, IOR, 3 4 over the POR.
3 2, 3 3, 3 4, 3 5, 3 6, Intelsat 3 1 , 3 5 and 3 8
3 7 and 3 8) were launch failures
Intelsat 4 12 C band transponders Spin Intelsat 4 1 initially over
(comprising of 8 each (4000 voice circuits IOR then moved to
satellites Intelsat 4 1, or 2 TV channels each) AOR, Intelsat 4 2, 4 3
4 2, 4 3, 4 4, 4 5, 4 6, and 4 7 over AOR,
4 7 and 4 8) Intelsat 4 4 and 4 8 over
POR and Intelsat 4 5
over IOR
Intelsat 4A 20 C band transponders Spin Intelsat 4A 1, 4A 2 and
(comprising of 6 each (7250 voice or 2 TV 4A 4 over the AOR,
satellites Intelsat 4A channels each ) Intelsat 4A 3 over the
1, 4A 2, 4A 3, 4A 4, IOR
4A 5 and 4A 6)

102
 Satellite Transponders Stabilization Location
Intelsat 5 21 C band and 4 Ku band 3-axis Intelsat 501 first over
(comprising of 9 transponders each (12000 AOR then POR, 502,
satellites Intelsat voice+2TV channels) 506 over AOR, 503 over
501, 502, 503, 504, AOR then POR, 504,
505, 506, 507, 508 505, 507, 508
and 509) over IOR
Intelsat 5A 26 C band and 6 Ku band 3-axis Intelsat 510 over POR,
(comprising of 6 transponders each (15000 Intelsat 511, 515 over
satellites Intelsat voice+2TV channels) IOR and Intelsat 512
510, 511, 512, 513, and
514 and 515) 513 over AOR
◦
Intelsat 6 38 C band and 10 Ku band Spin Intelsat 602 (178 E) and
◦
(comprising of 5 transponders each (120000 605 (174 E) over POR,
◦
satellites Intelsat two-way telephone calls + 604 (60 E) and 601
601, 602, 603, 604, three television channels ◦
(47.5 E) over IOR, 603
605 and 606) each) ◦
(340 E) over AOR ◦
Intelsat 7 26 C band and 10 Ku band 3-axis Intelsat 701 (180 E) over
◦
(comprising of 6 transponders each (18000 POR, 702 (55 E), 703
◦ ◦
satellites Intelsat telephone calls and 3 color (57 E), 704 (66 E) and
◦
701, 702, 703, 704, TV broadcasts 706 (52 E) over IOR,
◦
705 and 709) simultaneously or up to 705 (310 E) over AOR,
◦
90000 telephone circuits 709 (85 E) over APR
using digital circuit
multiplication equipment
(DCME))
◦
Intelsat 7A 26 C band transponders 3-axis Intelsat 706 (50 E) over
◦
(comprising of 3 and 14 Ku band IOR, 707 (307 E) and
◦
satellites 706, 707 transponders each (22500 708 (310 E) over AOR
and 708) telephone calls and 3 color
TV broadcasts
simultaneously or up to
112500 telephone circuits
using DCME)
◦
Intelsat 8 38 C band transponders 3-axis Intelsat 801 (328.5 E),
◦
(comprising of 4 and 6 Ku band 803 (310 E) over AOR,
◦
satellites Intelsat transponders each (22000 802 (33 E) over IOR and
◦
801, 802, 803 and telephone calls and 3 color 804 (64 E) over IOR
804) TV broadcasts
simultaneously or up to
112500 telephone circuits
using DCME)
◦
Intelsat 8A 28 C band transponders 3-axis Intelsat 805 (304.5 E),
◦
(comprising of 2 and 3 Ku band 806 (319.5 E) over AOR
satellites Intelsat 805 transponders each
and 806)

103
 Satellite Transponders Stabilization Location
◦
Intelsat 9 44 C band transponders 3-axis Intelsat 901 (342 E), 903
◦ ◦
(comprising of 7 and 12 Ku band (325.5 E), 905 (335.5 E)
◦
satellites Intelsat transponders and 907 (332.5 E) over
901, 902, 903, 904, each AOR, Intelsat 902
◦ ◦
905, 906 and 907) (62 E), 904 (60 E) and
◦
906 (64 E) over IOR
◦
Intelsat 10 (currently 45 C band and 16 Ku band 3-axis Intelsat 10-02 (359 E)
comprising of 1 transponders over AOR
operational satellite
Intelsat 10-02)

INSAT (Indian National Satellite):

Owned by the Indian Department of Space, named the Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO), INSAT is one of the largest domestic communication
satellite networks in the world, providing services in the areas of telecommunications,
television broadcasting, mobile satellite services and meteorology including disaster
warning. INSAT is a joint venture of the Department of Space (DOS), Department of
Telecommunications (DOT), Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), All India Radio
(AIR) and Doordarshan. Making a modest beginning with the launch of INSAT-1A in 1982,
the INSAT satellite programme has come a long way today. INSAT-1A belonged to the
INSAT-1 series, further comprising INSAT-1B, 1C and 1D satellites. The INSAT-1
series was followed by INSAT-2 and INSAT-3 series of satellites. They were superceded
by the INSAT-4 series of satellites. The following table lists the salient features of the
INSAT series of satellites.

Satellite Transponders Stabilization Location

INSAT 1A 12 C band and 2 S band transponders and 3-axis o
74 E
VHRR (very high resolution radiometer)
meteorological payload
INSAT 1B 12 C band and 2 S band transponders and VHRR 3-axis o
74 E
meteorological payload
INSAT 1C 12 C band and 2 S band transponders and VHRR 3-axis 93.5 E
o

meteorological payload
o
INSAT 1D 12 C band and 2 S band transponders 3-axis 83 E
INSAT 2A 12 C band, 6 extended C band and 2 S band 3-axis o
74 E
transponders, 1 data relay transponder, 1 search and
rescue transponder and VHRR meteorological
payload
INSAT 2B 12 C band, 6 extended C band and 2 S band 3-axis 93.5 E
o

transponders , 1 data relay transponder, 1 search

and rescue transponder and VHRR meteorological
payload
o
INSAT 2C 12 C band, 6 extended C band, 3 Ku band, 2 S band 3-axis 93.5 E
BSS and 1 S band MSS transponders
INSAT 25 C band and 1 S band BSS transponders 3-axis o
55 E
2DT
INSAT 2E 12 C band, 5 extended C band transponders, 3-axis o
83 E
meteorological payloads VHRR and CCD camera.
11 of the C band transponders have been leased to
the INTELSAT organization

104
 Satellite Transponders Stabilization Location
INSAT 3B 12 extended C band, 3 Ku band and 1 S band MSS 3-axis o
83 E
transponders and 1 Ku band beacon
INSAT 3C 24 C band, 6 extended C band, 2 S band BSS 3-axis o
74 E
transponders and a MSS transponder operating in S
band for uplink and C band for downlink
o
INSAT 3A 12 C band, 6 extended C band, 1 S band, 6 Ku band 3-axis 93.5 E
transponders, satellite aided search and rescue
(SAS&R) transponder, meteorological payloads of
VHRR, CCD camera and 1 data relay (DR)
transponder
o
INSAT 3E 24 C band and 12 extended C band transponders 3-axis 55 E
o
INSAT 4A 12 C band and 12 Ku band transponders 3-axis 83 E
o
INSAT 4B 12 C band and 12 Ku band transponders 3-axis 93.5 E
INSAT 12 C band and 12 Ku band transponders 3-axis o
74 E
4CR

VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal):

VSATs stand for very small aperture terminals and are used for providing one-way
or two-way data broadcasting services, point-to-point voice services and one-way
video broadcasting services. VSAT networks are ideal for centralized networks with a
central host and a number of geographically dispersed terminals. Typical examples are
small and medium businesses with a central office, banking institutions with branches
all over the country, reservation and airline ticketing systems, etc. VSATs offer various
advantages, like wide geographical area coverage, high reliability, low cost,
independence from terrestrial communication infrastructure, flexible network
configurations, etc. However, VSATs suffer from a major problem of delay between
transmission and reception of data (around 250 ms) due to the use of GEO satellites.

VSAT network:
The ground segment of a typical VSAT network consists of a high performance
hub Earth station with a large outdoor antenna and a large number of low performance
terminals, referred to as VSATs with very small outdoor antennas. The space segment
comprises of GEO satellites acting as communication links between the hub station
and the VSAT terminals.
The hub station comprises (1) a large outdoor antenna with a diameter of between 6 to
9 metres for transmission, (2) RF terminals for providing a wideband uplink of one
digital carrier per network, (3) base band equipment comprising modems,
multiplexers and encoders, (4) a control centre for managing the network and (5) various
kinds of interfacing equipment to support a wide variety of terrestrial links. In the case of
bidirectional networks, the outdoor antenna is also configured for reception of signals
and the RF equipment comprises several narrowband downlink channels to receive
signals from various remote VSAT terminals.
A VSAT terminal comprises (1) a very small outdoor antenna (0.5 to 2.4 m
in diameter), (2) an RF terminal comprising an LNB (low noise block) for reception and
(3) base band equipment. They also comprise an up-converter and power amplifier for
uplinking in the case of bidirectional networks.

105
 VSAT networks employ either C band or Ku band frequencies for transmission
and reception. Ku band VSAT networks have smaller antenna diameters as compared to C
band networks.
The following figure shows a typical VSAT network.

VSAT Network Topologies:

VSAT networks come in various topologies, but the most commonly used
topologies are star topology for both unidirectional and bidirectional networks and mesh
topology for bidirectional networks.
Unidirectional star networks are those in which the information is transmitted only
in one direction from the hub station to the remote terminals. The following figure
shows a typical unidirectional star network.

106
 Bidirectional star networks allow the transmission of information in both the
directions, but in this case the information cannot be transmitted directly from one VSAT
terminal to another but is routed through the hub station. The following figure
shows a typical bidirectional star network. The information from station A to station B
(shown by regular line) has to first go to the central hub station and from there it is routed to
station B. The same holds for transmission from station B to station A (shown by the dotted
line).

Mesh topology is also more effective if the network is to be mainly used for
telephony or video-teleconferencing applications. In these networks, the hub is owned
by a service provider and is shared among large number of users. These networks are
referred to as shared hub networks. Each user in these networks is allocated a particular
time slot. There are certain networks referred to as mini-hub networks in which each user
has a mini-hub, which is smaller than the conventional hub. The following figure shows a
typical mesh network.

107
Access methods for VSATs:
A VSAT can either use dedicated bandwidth services or dynamic bandwidth
allocation services. Networks with continuous data transfer for critical real time
applications employ dedicated bandwidth services, referred to as PAMA (permanently
assigned multiple access). Most networks employ dynamic bandwidth allocation services,
also referred to as demand assigned multiple access (DAMA). VSAT networks
generally employ a TDM/TDMA scheme for transmission of data. Other schemes used
for implementing the VSAT networks include SCPC and CDMA.

VSATs via non-GEO satellite systems:

Non-GEO satellite systems also provide data services like messaging services,
pager services, internet services, data services in the store-and-forward mode and some
real time data services etc. The non-GEO systems include the little LEO, big LEO and
MEO systems. Little LEO satellite systems offer two-way messaging services (including e-
mail and paging) in the store-and-forward mode, limited internet, facsimile services and
remote data services mainly for emergency situations. Big LEO and MEO systems offer
global Internet, fax, real time data services and even broadband multimedia services.

Mobile Satellite services:

A mobile satellite system (MSS) is a system that provides radio
communication services between (1) mobile earth stations and one or more satellite stations
(2) mobile earth stations by means of one or more satellites or (3) Satellites.
Any mobile station registered on the mobile satellite network is interconnected to
any available channel of a network interface gateway (NIG) through proper channel
assignments issued by a network access gateway (NAG).
The mobile satellite system is a part of a Land-based Digital Switched Network (LDSN)
that contains the integrated services digital network (ISDN) and the mobile
communications systems to provide end users with efficient communication services
between fixed and fixed terminals, fixed and mobile terminals, and mobile and mobile
terminals.
A mobile station can communicate both signalling and bearer traffic to a
base transceiver station (BTS) that provides the most favorable radio frequency (RF)
signal. This establishes an association between the mobile station’s geographic location
and the closest BTS. As the mobile station moves from the coverage area of one BTS to
another, the first association is released and a new one is formed. This procedure is called
handover. A base station controller (BSC) and a mobile switching center (MSC)
manage radio resources, channel assignments, and handover services. A single BSC can
control multiple BTSs. A single MSC can control multiple BSCs. Multiple MSCs may
reside within a single LDSN.

GSM (Global System for Mobile communications):

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a cellular mobile system.
The GSM architecture is based on the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a segment
of the land-based digital switched network (LDSN).
The GSM network can be divided into following broad
parts. The Mobile Station (MS)
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
The Network Switching Subsystem (NSS)
The Operation Support Subsystem (OSS)
The following figure shows the architecture of a GSM network.

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The Mobile Station (MS):
The MS consists of the physical equipment, such as the radio transceiver, display
and digital signal processors, and the SIM card. It provides the air interface to the user in
GSM networks. Other services are also provided, which include: Voice teleservices, Data
bearer services and Handset's supplementary services.
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS):
The BSS is composed of two parts: The Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and The Base
Station Controller (BSC).
The BTS houses the radio transceivers that define a cell and handles the radio
link protocols with the MS. The BTS corresponds to the transceivers and antennas used in
each cell of the network. A BTS is usually placed in the center of a cell. Its transmitting
power defines the size of a cell. Each BTS has between 1 and 16 transceivers, depending
on the density of users in the cell. Each BTS serves a single cell. It also includes the
following functions: Encoding, encrypting, multiplexing, modulating, and feeding the RF
signals to the antenna, Transcoding and rate adaptation, Time and frequency synchronizing,
Voice through full- or half-rate services, Decoding, decrypting, and equalizing received
signals, Random access detection, Timing advances and Uplink channel measurements.
The BSC manages the radio resources for one or more BTSs. It handles radio
channel setup, frequency hopping, and handovers. The BSC is the connection between the
mobile and the MSC.
The BTS communicates with the MS over what is termed as the Um interface.
The BSC communicates with the BTS over what is termed as the Abis interface.

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The Network Switching Subsystem (NSS):
The NSS has the Mobile Services Switching Center as the main components
and additionally the Home Location Register (HLR), Visitor Location Register
(VLR), Equipment Identity Register (EIR) and Authentication Center (AuC).
The central component of the Network Subsystem is the MSC. The MSC performs
the switching of calls between the mobile and other fixed or mobile network users, as well
as the management of mobile services such as such as registration, authentication,
location updating, handovers, and call routing to a roaming subscriber. It also performs such
functions as toll ticketing, network interfacing, common channel signaling, and others.
Every MSC is identified by a unique ID.
Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS):
The OSS or operation support subsystem is an element within the overall GSM
network architecture that is connected to components of the NSS and the BSC. It is used
to control and monitor the overall GSM network and it is also used to control the traffic
load of the BSS.
The objective of a cellular system is to achieve the maximum use of available
radio spectrum while ensuring low interference and a high quality of service. The
geographic areas of mobile users are grouped into cells. The size of the cell depends on the
population density of the users. Cells are smaller in areas where the most users are expected.
The shape of a cell is made such that interlocking cells obtain real coverage.
When a call is placed, the mobile station (handset) first senses the presence of
cellular frequencies and attempts to place a call through the local cellular networks if
they are available. If the cellular service not available, then the call is routed through the
satellite for an acknowledgment of the call status. The call established through a particular
BTS enters the ground networks (e.g., ISDN) through the satellite gateway located within
the region being served. To make a circuit request, the MS (i.e., handset) transmits requests
via order wires to satellite. The user (1) is assigned a beam that provides the strongest
signal to the base transceiver station and (2) is then instructed to use a suitable power
level and particular access technique appropriate to the beam. In some cases with very
long calls, circuit transfer to another satellite is performed without the callers’ participation.
When the user is moving outside the beam coverage, the call is handed over to the
next beam. This process is called the handover. For call setup via order wire, each base
station constantly monitors the strength of the modulated signals it is receiving from
each user. When the quality of this signal falls below certain preassigned norms (values)
because the direct path signal may have been attenuated or the cellular user is moving
outside the beam coverage, the base station sends a request to the MSC asking it to
attempt a handover. The base station is usually located in the barocenter (center of the cell)
of the service area.

GPS (Global Positioning System):

The GPS comprises of three segments, namely the space segment, control segment
and user segment.
Space Segment:
The space segment comprises of a 28 satellite constellation out of which 24
satellites are active satellites and the remaining four satellites are used as in-orbit spares.
The satellites are placed in six orbital planes, with four satellites in each plane. The
satellites orbit in circular medium Earth orbits (MEO) at an altitude of 20 200 km,
◦
inclined at 55 to the equator. The orbital period of each satellite is around 12 hours (11
hours, 58 mins). The MEO orbit was chosen as a compromise between the LEO and GEO
orbits. If the satellites are placed in LEO orbits, then a large number of satellites would
be needed to obtain adequate coverage. Placing them in GEO orbits would reduce the
required number of satellites, but

110
will not provide good polar coverage. The present constellation makes it possible for four
to ten satellites to be visible to all receivers anywhere in the world and hence ensure
worldwide coverage.
All GPS satellites are equipped with atomic clocks having a very high accuracy of
the order of a few nanoseconds (3 ns in a second).

GPS system
Control Segment:
The control segment of the GPS system comprises a worldwide network of five
monitor stations, four ground antenna stations and a master control station.
Each of the monitor stations is provided with high fidelity GPS receivers and a
Cesium oscillator to continuously track all GPS satellites in view. Data from these stations
is sent to the MCS which computes precise and updated information on satellite orbits and
clock status every 15 minutes. This tracking information is uploaded to GPS satellites
through ground antenna stations once or twice per day for each satellite using S band
signals. This helps to maintain the accuracy and proper functioning of the whole
system. The ground antenna stations are also used to transmit commands to satellites
and to receive satellite telemetry data.
User Segment:
The user segment includes all military and civil GPS receivers intended to
provide position, velocity and time information. These receivers are either hand-held
receivers or installed on aircraft, ships, tanks, submarines, cars and trucks. The basic
function of these receivers is to detect, decode and process the GPS satellite signals.
Some of the receivers have maps of the area stored in their memory. This makes the whole
GPS system more user-

111
friendly as it helps the receiver to navigate its way out. Most receivers trace the path of
the user as they move. Certain advanced receivers also tell the user the distance they
have travelled, their speed and time of travel. They also tell the estimated time of arrival
at the current speed when fed with destination coordinates. Moreover, there is no limit
to the number of users using the system simultaneously.
GPS receivers comprise three functional blocks: (1) Radio frequency front end:
The front end comprises one or more antennas to receive the GPS signal, filters and
amplifiers to discriminate the wanted signal from noise and a down-converter to remove the
carrier signal. (2) Digital signal processing block: It correlates the signals from satellites
with signals stored in the receiver to identify the specific GPS satellite and to
calculate pseudoranges. (3) Computing unit: This unit determines position, velocity
and other data and the display format.
Working Principle of the GPS:
The basic principle of operation of the GPS is that the location of any point can
be determined if its distance is known from four objects or points with known positions.
Theoretically, if the distance of a point is known from one object, then it lies
anywhere on a sphere with the object as the centre having a radius equal to the distance
between the point and the object. If the distance of the point is known from two objects,
then it lies on the circle formed by the intersection of two such spheres. The distance from
the third object helps in knowing that the point is located at any of the two positions
where the three spheres intersect. The information from the fourth object reveals the exact
position where it is located i.e., at the point where the four spheres intersect.

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 In the GPS, the position of any receiver is determined by calculating its distance
from four satellites. This distance is referred to as the ‘Pseudorange’. The information
from three satellites is sufficient for calculating the longitude and the latitude
positions; however, information from the fourth satellite is necessary for altitude
calculations.
GPS Positioning Services and Positioning Modes:
GPS Positioning Services: There are two levels of GPS positioning and
timing services, namely the precision positioning service (PPS) and the standard
positioning service (SPS). The PPS is the most precise and autonomous service and is
accessible by authorized users only. The SPS is less accurate than PPS and is
available to all users worldwide, authorized or unauthorized.
GPS Positioning Modes: There are two possible positioning modes, namely,
Point positioning and Relative positioning. Point positioning employs one GPS receiver to
do the measurements. Here the receiver calculates its position by determining its
pseudoranges from three (or four) satellites using the codes transmitted by the satellite.
It is used for low accuracy applications like the recreation applications and for low
accuracy navigation. Relative positioning also referred to as differential positioning
employs two GPS receivers simultaneously for tracking the same satellites. They are used
for high accuracy applications such as surveying, precision landing systems for aircraft,
measuring movement of the Earth’s crust, mapping, GIS and precise navigation. Special
receivers known as differential GPS (DGPS) receivers are required for using this
service. Pseudorange in this case can be measured using either PRN (Pseudo
Random Number) codes (for medium accuracy applications) or by performing carrier
phase measurements (for high accuracy applications). GPS Error Sources:
The main sources of GPS error are (1) the signal propagation error due to delays caused
by the ionosphere and troposphere, (2) the multipath reflections due to reflection of
radio waves by tall buildings, mountains or earth surface, (3) clock error due to inaccurate
receiver clock, (4) ephemeris error due to inaccuracy in the satellites’ reported location, (5)
the error due to number of visible satellites, (6) the error to the satellite geometry, (7) the
error due to jamming of weak GPS signals by low power transmitters and (8) the error due to
the selective availability (SA) scheme introduced by the US Defense Department.
However, the SA was discontinued on 1 May 2000.

INMARSAT Satellite System:

INMARSAT is an acronym for the International Maritime Satellite Organization and
is an international organization, currently having 85 member countries, in order to
provide global mobile communication services. The INMARSAT satellite system comprises:
Space segment: It consists of a constellation of four prime GEO satellites
strategically placed at one of the four ocean regions to provide a global coverage. Two
satellites are placed over the Atlantic Ocean Regions East and West (AORE 15 .5◦ W
and AORW 55.5◦ W respectively), one over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR 64.5◦ E)
and one over the Pacific Ocean Region (POR 180◦ E). There is an overlap between the
footprints of each of the satellites. Each of these four satellites is backed up by spare
operational satellites so that the services are not blocked due to failure of the operational
satellites.
Ground segment: It comprises a large number of fixed Earth stations (gateways)
and mobile Earth stations (MES). Gateways (referred to as land Earth stations (LES) or
coastal Earth stations (CES) by the maritime community and as ground Earth stations
(GES) by the aeronautical community) serve as interfaces to the terrestrial public switched
networks. The ground segment also comprises an INMARSAT network control centre
(NCC) and three satellite control centers (SCC). The NCC located in the UK,
monitors and controls the
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complete network of LES, MES and the satellites. The SCCs are responsible for the
physical management of INMARSAT satellites.
Subscriber units: These include the satphones, facsimile, telex and data terminals.
The following figure shows a typical communication network using
INMARSAT satellites.

The following table lists the services offered by the INMARSAT satellites.

Service & Year

Communication capability Applications
of introduction
INMARSAT A Analogue telephony, data Land and maritime commercial,
1982 and compressedvideo through social and safety related applications
desktop PC type terminals
INMARSAT B Digital telephony, fax, data Land and maritime
1993 and full video through briefcase commercial, social and
type terminals safety related applications with
better services than
INMARSAT C Low bit rate store and forward INMARSAT A e-mail
International services,
1990 data communication through database access and global
briefcase sized terminals telex services
INMARSAT D & Low bit rate two way data Data broadcast e.g. financial data,
D+ communication using personal vehicle tracking, personal messaging
1996-97 CD player sized terminals

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Service & Year
Communication capability Applications
of introduction
INMARSAT M World’s first personal, portable Remote and rural fixed
1993 mobile satellite system providing communications, mobile
digital telephony and data services communications e.g. business
using briefcase sized terminals travelers, police and emergency
services
INMARSAT INMARSAT’s most popular Used by journalists, workers,
mini-M service employing the smallest, business people,
1996 lightest and the cheapest terminals emergency services, rural
to provide digital voice and data telephony
INMARSAT services
Same services as INMARSAT C to Messaging services to corporate
Aero C aircraft aircraft
1992

INMARSAT Real time duplex digital Real-time flight and passenger

Aero-L telephone, fax and data services related communication e.g.
1990 to aircraft engine monitoring

INMARSAT Telephone, data and fax services to Medium bit rate real time voice,
Aero-H passenger air cabs and cockpits data and fax communication
1990

INMARSAT Telephone, data and fax services to Passenger voice telephone,

Aero-I short and medium-haul aircraft facsimile, cockpit voice and
1998 data, air traffic control, secure
voice access to major air traffic
control centers
INMARSAT Provides global maritime Distress and safety-GMDSS
E distress alerting services compliant
1982

Fleet 2003 Voice, data, ISDN Ocean-going and Swift 64 Voice, fax, ISDN
coastal vessels and MPDS Private,
business and
R-BGAN 2002 “Always-on” IP-data service commercial aircraft
Land-mobile market
BGAN 2004 Internet and intranet solutions, Land-mobile market
video on demand, video-
conferencing, fax, e-mail,
telephone and high-speed LAN
access
Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS) Services:
The satellites that provide broadcast transmissions in the fullest sense of the word
with antenna footprints covering large areas of the earth are known as the broadcast
satellites. The idea of using such satellites to provide direct transmissions into the
home are known generally as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services. Broadcast
services include audio, television, and Internet services.

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Direct-to-Home Satellite Television:
Direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television refers to the direct reception of satellite
TV programmes by the end users from the satellite through their own receiving antennas.
The DTH systems operate in the Ku band.
DBS satellites transmit signals to Earth in the BSS (Broadcast Satellite
Services) segment of the Ku band (between 12.2 and 12.7 GHz), making use of MPEG-
2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) digital compression techniques. The channel capacity per
transponder is five to twelve channels depending upon the data rate and the compression
parameters, and hence they can provide about 200 channels from one satellite. Hence,
the dishes for DBS services need not be steerable.
The following figure shows the pictorial representation of a typical DBS receiver
set-up.

The receiver basically consists of a descrambler that descrambles the digital

signals received by the antenna and a converter module that converts the digitally
compressed bit stream into analogue TV channels. Then depending upon the channel the
user has chosen, that particular channel is split out and sent to the TV screen. Hence one
cannot have two television sets viewing different programmes from the same receiver, as
in the case of cable TV. They also provide a fully interactive TV guide and
automatically feed the billing information to the local computer of the service provider.
DBS systems are completely closed systems that employ some form of
encryption techniques, hence enabling only conditional access by authorized users. Hence
there are no free channels available on DBS systems.
Digital DBS TV offers a lot of services: (1) HDTV (high definition television), which
is a high resolution digital TV service, (2) interactive programme watching in which the
user can interact with the programme and create his or her own programme, (3) do
interactive shopping by tuning in to the shopping channel and choosing what to buy and
order it, (4) personal video recording in which the user can record the programme and
play it later, (5) video-on-demand, in which the viewer can view at any moment the
programme of his choice, (6) near video-on-demand, in which the viewer can view the
programme of his choice at a latter scheduled time, (7) pay TV in which the viewer
is charged according to the programmes he views and (8) a high speed Internet
connection through the satellite TV link.

Digital Audio Broadcast:

Satellite radio broadcasting shares many of the same principles and components
from TV program distribution.

116
 The concept is indicated in the following figure where a broadcast center obtains
audio content from a variety of sources: tape, local studio, audio CD, and existing radio
stations and networks. The trick here is to be sure that the programming flows in the
same manner as listeners are accustomed to hearing. The actual broadcast transmission is
fairly standard, as in TV, using analog-to-digital conversion, compression appropriate to the
content, forward error correction, modulation, and RF amplification.

Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB)

WorldSpace Services:
The WorldSpace system is built on the premise of serving the needy populations of
the world, as divided into three regions: Africa and the Middle East (AfriStar), Asia
and the Pacific Rim (AsiaStar), and Central and South America (CaribStar).
The system configuration in each region comprises the following: (1) Space segment: the
satellite and its associated TT&C facilities needed to control the satellite. (2) Broadcast
segment: the studios and feeder link systems to uplink the programming to the space
segment. (3) Radio segment: the individual receivers used by the public. (4) Mission
segment: to control and monitor the broadcast segment and the satellite payload.
The focus on lower latitudes allows each satellite to provide service at elevations
angles generally above 50°. As discussed later in this chapter, this has the advantage of
limiting the shadowing and multipath effects. WorldSpace networks rely 100% on satellite
broadcast and have no terrestrial fill-in repeaters.
The WorldSpace system employs three GEO satellites with same design but
difference downlink coverages. The communication payloads of these satellites employ
both the bent-type and processor mode transponders. The downlink carrier is amplified to
300W in parallel 150-W TWTAs. The resulting TDM signals are assigned frequencies
within the 1,467- to 1,492-MHz band, allocated for the BSS. The transmitting antennas
offer a total of three spot beams to increase the EIRP into the service areas. Uplink
operation is at X-band through a global beam pattern, allowing the originating Earth
station to exist anywhere on the visible Earth.
Receivers that are compatible with the WorldSpace transmission format
are manufactured by leading consumer electronics companies and distributed worldwide.
The unit receives the L-band signal, demodulates the full TDM, and extracts the useful
prime rate channels from the TDM stream, which is FEC decoded into a broadcast channel.

117
Business TV:
Businesses TV employs private broadcasting, which relies on the point-to-
multipoint nature of the satellite delivery medium, and video teleconferencing (VTC),
which uses point-to-point two-way links to add the visual element to the standard
interactivity of voice telephony. The business TV is technically the same as the
entertainment and educational TVs.

Video Teleconferencing:
Video teleconferencing links and networks are intended to reduce business travel
costs and improve organization performance by increasing communication among distant
groups. Many of the most popular applications for VTC are summarized as follows: (1)
Routine meetings between members of a team that is engaged in a very large project. (2)
Coordination meetings of a joint venture involving groups in different countries. (3)
Routine financial reviews of a multinational corporation that involve many remote
locations. The standard arrangement of VTC is for point-to-point connectivity as presented
in the following figure for a typical system.

This produces a two-way service where both sides of the conference can see and hear
each other. Each end of the connection is equipped with cameras, microphones, monitors
or TV projection systems, a digital video compression codec, and a controller.
The most expensive item in the system and the one that is most critical to the
operation and performance is the codec. To reduce cost, the codec has been miniaturized and
integrated with the camera. A typical codec provides separate inputs for audio, data, and
control. A fully functional codec can provide different levels of video quality in relation
to how much the user is willing to pay for transmission. The codec can also provide
transmission security using a symmetrical encryption algorithm.

118
 The user can interact with the device using either a separate control box or a
special type of handheld remote controller and on-screen display.
The telecommunication aspects of VTC can be provided either by satellite or by
a terrestrial digital network. Satellite-based VTC remains a useful application because
it bypasses the remaining limitations of terrestrial networks. A common control station is
used to schedule the conferences and to control the remote equipment. Satellite
transmission of two-way VTC provides an interesting possibility of point-to-multipoint
communication (e.g., private broadcasting) and true multipoint conferencing (e.g., many-to-
many connections).

Internet:
The Internet consists of a myriad of smaller, interconnected networks inter-operating
to exchange data between host computers in the networks. The Internet is an example o
f a packet-switched network. The following figure shows the basic Internet access process.
The Internet user (subscriber) accesses the Internet via his/her Internet service provider
(ISP). The ISP uses routers to connect subscribers to a dedicated-access ISDN or point
of presence (POP) after concentrating subscribers’ traffic.

Basic internet arrangement

All networks connected to the Internet share a common suite of
telecommunication protocols (standards) known as the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The TCP/IP is a layered protocol suite like the
OSI protocol suite. The TCP/IP suite contains a number of protocols.

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 The network layer routes packets using IP.
The transport layer contains TCP and ensures that a message can be received correctly
by the destination.
The application layer provides a programming interface for interprocess
communication to the transport layer and application services for subscribers (or end
users). Some of the many application protocols include File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for file
transfer, Domain name service (DNS) for symbolic domain name translation to a
corresponding IP network address, TELNET for text-based remote access (login),
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for electronic mail and Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) for network hardware and software management.
The data link layer maintains a reliable communication link between adjacent nodes.
Internet users have a wide range of new application requirements beyond the
simple
data transfer; these include the smart and quick interface of text, voice, and video as well
as real- time videoconferencing and multimedia applications.
Data security is a matter of great concern to many Internet users. Two broad types
of security have been discussed in the literature and in practice: firewalls and
encryption. A prominent public-key encryption method for e-mail is the Pretty Good
Privacy (PGP), which is based on the Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) algorithm.
Firewalls attempt to provide filters for both incoming and outgoing packets in order
to improve the security of the networks connected to the Internet e.g., Packet filters,
which use the IP address and TCP port number to decide if a packet can pass through the
routers, and Proxy servers, which prevent direct connection from the outside to the service
on the inside.
The following figure shows a basic Internet access through satellite.

Internet via satellite

The Internet user (subscriber) accesses the Internet via his/her ISP, which
then establishes access to an Internet point of presence via a gateway station for connection
to the satellite’s network access gateway (NAG). The NAG then sends the message
across the proximate backbone network of the recipient’s ISP, which is finally delivered to
the intended recipient’s address.
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 Subscribers’ access to satellite using a subscriber unit (e.g., handheld, pocket-
sized phones) may be the simplest feature of satellite mobile systems where the subscribers
will be able to access voice, facsimile, data, and paging services with accept able high
quality.

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 REG.NO:

RAJALAKSHMI ENGINEERING COLLEGE, THANDALAM

MODEL EXAMINATION APRIL/MAY 2012
EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

SEM/BRANCH: VIII/EC MAX. MARKS: 100

DATE: DURATION: 3 HRS
PART A (102=20)
1. Give the advantage of geostationary orbit.
2. What is sun transit outage?
3. What is the equivalent noise temperature of a receiver with a noise figure of 12
o
dB operating in an ambient temperature of 290 K?
4. Why is LNA placed before the cable in a
receiver? 5. Why is TDMA preferred over FDMA?
6. What is meant by demand assignment multiple
access? 7. Define saturation flux density.
8. What is the difference between MATV and CATV?
9. What is the minimum number of satellites required to locate an object in
GPS? 10. What is VSAT?
PART B (516=80)
11. (a) (i) Describe the effects of orbital perturbations on a satellite orbit. (8)
(ii) Write short notes on the earth’s eclipse of satellite and the sun transit outage.
(4+4) OR
(b) (i) Explain the various types of launch vehicles and their performances. (8)
(ii) Drive the expressions for the look angles given the latitudes and longitudes of
the satellite and the earth. (8)
12. (a) (i) What is the payload of a communication satellite? Explain the functioning
of various modules of the payload of a communication satellite. (2+10)
(ii) Explain briefly the operation of TT & C subsystem of a satellite.
(6) OR
(b) Explain the spin stabilization techniques of satellite orbital orientation. (16)
13. (a) Explain various modulation and multiplexing techniques used for voice, video
and data transmission over the satellite network. (16)
OR
(b) (i) Explain how the frame acquisition and synchronization achieved in TDMA.
(8) (ii) Describe the operation of a Unique Word Detector. (8)
14. (a) Explain the functioning of a transmit-receive earth station with neat diagram.
(16) OR
(b) (i) Describe the experimental setup to measure the G/T ratio of an earth station.
(8) (ii) Explain briefly the principle of MATV. (8)
15. (a) Explain the principle of operation of GPS & VSAT. (8+8)
OR
(b) (i) Write short notes on direct broadcast satellite services: DTH and DAB.
(8) (ii) Write short notes on LEO and MEO satellite systems. (8)

2
 RAJALAKSHMI ENGINEERING COLLEGE, THANDALAM
MODEL EXAMINATION - APRIL/MAY 2012
EC2045 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
SEM/BRANCH: VIII/ECE MAX. MARKS: 100
DATE: DURATION: 3 HRS
PART A (102=20)
16. State the Kepler’s third law of orbital motion.
17. Why is it preferable to operate with a satellite positioned west, rather than east, of
earth station longitude?
18. A satellite link operating at 14 GHz has receiver feeder losses of 1.5 dB and a free-
space loss of 207 dB. The atmospheric absorption loss is 0.5 dB, and the antenna
pointing loss is 0.5 dB. Depolarization losses may be neglected. Calculate the total link
loss for clear-sky conditions.
19. What is meant by “clear sky” condition in link
design? 20. What is meant by energy dispersal?
21. What is meant by spread-spectrum technique?
22. What is the difference between MATV and CATV?
23. What is the redundancy used for an earth station with dual
polarization? 24. What is meant by space diversity?
25. What is meant pseudorange in GPS?
PART B (516=80)
26. (a) Derive expressions for the slant range, the coverage area and the coverage
angle. (10)
(ii) Determine the limits of visibility for an earth station situated at mean sea level,
at latitude 48.42 degrees north, and longitude 89.26 degrees west. Assume a
minimum angle of elevation of 5 degrees. (6)
OR
(b) (i) Describe the entire process of placing a satellite in a geostationary orbit using
the Hohmann lease energy two-impulse cotangential transfer orbit. (12)
(ii) What are the advantages of a geostationary satellite? (4)
27. (a) Derive the expressions for the carrier-to-noise density (C/No) ratios in the uplink
and downlink including necessary discussions on the losses in the links, system
noise and the compensation for the intermodulation effects. (16)
OR
(b) (i) In a link budget calculation at 12 GHz, the free-space loss is 206 dB, the
antenna pointing loss is 1 dB, and the atmospheric absorption is 2 dB. The receiver
G/T ratio is 19.5 dB/K, and receiver feeder losses are 1 dB. The EIRP is 48 dBW.
Calculate the carrier-to-noise spectral density ratio. (8)
(ii) The specified parameters for a downlink are satellite saturation value of EIRP,
25 dBW; output backoff, 6 dB; free-space loss, 196 dB; allowance for other
downlink losses, 1.5 dB; and earth station G/T, 41 dB/K. Calculate the carrier-to-
noise density ratio at the earth station. (8)
28. (a) What is meant by jamming? Explain how the two spread-spectrum techniques
are used to overcome intentional jamming. (4+12)
OR
(b) (i) Explain the demand assignment technique used to improve the throughput of
a TDMA system. (10)
(ii) What is meant by energy dispersal? Explain how this is achieved. (6)

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29. (a) (i) Explain the operation of a CATV. (8)
(ii) Describe the experimental setup to measure the EIRP ratio of an earth station.
(8) OR
(b) Explain the operation of a transmit-receive earth station with neat diagram.
(16) 30. (a) Describe a typical VSAT network. (16)
OR
(b) Write short notes on following specialized services: video conferencing and
internet. (8+8)

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