Fundamentals of Satellite Communications, Part 1

Howard Hausman President

MITEQ, Inc. Hauppauge, NY 11788 May 29, 2008

Fundamentals of Satellite Communications Part 1

Satellite Communications Introduction Types of Satellite Services Satellite Configurations Geostationary Satellites Non-Geostationary Satellites Satellite Configurations Frequency Reuse / Polarization Earth Station Antennas Major Earth Stations Components Satellite Communications Summary Part 2 Communication System Link Analysis Part 3 Specifying Subsystems for Data Communications 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 2

Satellite Communications Introduction

Are Satellites a Cost Effective Means of Communications? Answer is NO.
Limited Frequency Spectrum Limited Spatial Capacity (Orbital Slots) High Equipment Cost

Land lines and Fiber are Much More Cost Effective

Fiber Reuses Spectrum, Multi-Fiber Cables A few multi-fiber cables can have as much information as all the satellites in orbit Land Line Infrastructure is In Place 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 3

Satellites Provides Capabilities Not Available with Terrestrial Communication Systems

Adaptable to the needs of different customers Variable Information Rates Mobility Cost advantage over building land lines for a limited population Versatility in use Paging, Voice, Data, Video No geographical obstructions that prohibit landlines Quick implementation e.g. News Gathering Alternate routing or redundancy as required Cost is independent of distance Cost effective for short term requirements e.g. Sporting Events 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 4

Types of Satellite Services

Fixed Service Satellites (FSS)
Communication to non-moving satellites. Generally Earth Station is not moving when in use. Low Cost Tracking antennas are making communication on the move a reality Types of service Video: Broadcast: Television network distribution Satellite News Gathering (SNG). Voice: Telecommunications traffic / connecting cells. Connecting cellular telephone to small islands Data: Internet, Business to Business -

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MITEQ, Inc.

Satellite Industry Issues and Concerns

Frequency spectrum Orbital Slots Regulatory inconsistencies
Signals reach multiple countries

Consolidation of manufacturers Multiple standards Quality control versus production lead time Rapid change in telecommunications requirements
Digital Television

Rapid deployment of Fiber optics 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 6

Satellite Configurations & Stabilization

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Satellite Components
LNA Down Converter High Power Amplifier Filter Up Link Path Loss

Propulsion System Telemetry Attitude Control Fuel Batteries Power & Thermal Control Solar Arrays

Down Link Path Loss

Up Link Frequency Always Higher than Down Link Frequency -

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MITEQ, Inc.

Spin Stabilized Satellites

Spin Stabilized
Satellite Body is Spin Stabilized (60-100 RPM) Gyroscopic stability Spins to minimize thermal effects 1/2 the solar cells face the sun at one time More efficient for smaller satellites Antenna must de-spun 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 9

Body Stabilized Satellites

Body Stabilized

All solar cells face the sun Thermal control more difficult Requires more stabilization control More solar cells than Spin Stabilized Satellites Better design for larger satellites -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Geo-Stationary Satellites
In a British magazine, "Wireless World", May, 1945, Arthur Clark, a renown science fiction author, wrote a paper predicting that three geo-stationary satellites would provide complete global telecommunications coverage.

Sir Arthur Clark wrote 2001, A Space Odyssey Died this year 2008 -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Geo-Stationary Satellites (Continued)

Clark Orbit, which is Equatorial Circular 35,800km (22,300 Miles ) above the Earth traveling at a speed of 11,000km/hour
One Orbit takes 24 hours Synchronous with the spinning of the Earth

Satellites headed for geosynchronous orbit first go to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Elliptical orbit with apogee about 23,000 miles. Firing the rocket engines at apogee then makes the orbit circular.

A Single Satellite is visible from 1/3 of the earth's surface, excluding extreme Polar Regions. Cannot see latitudes greater than 77 Orbital locations are regulated by the International telecommunications Union (ITU) 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 12

Geo-Stationary Satellites Beams

Generally satellites must be spaced at least 1.5 to 2 apart (2 911 miles or 1,466 Km).
Earth Station antenna will illuminate multiple satellites if they are spaced closer

Orbital slots are measured in degrees going East from Greenwich meridian = 0 Satellite antenna beam width is 17.3 for full earth coverage 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 13

Advantages/Disadvantages of Geo-Synchronous Orbits

Advantages: No ground station tracking required No inter-satellite handoff, permanently in view Three satellites give full earth coverage Almost no Doppler shift, yields reduced complexity receivers Disadvantages: 35786 km orbits imply long transmission latencies Weak received signal Poor coverage at high latitudes (>77 degrees) -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Satellite Link Delays

Satellite to the surface of the Earth is 22,300 miles Two way transmission is 44,600 miles C = speed of light = 186,282 miles per second 239 milliseconds Minimum delay Transmit and receive stations on the equator at the same longitude as the satellite. Typical signals may required two hops through the satellite, i.e. around 500mSec 500mS echo is barely distinguishable 05/29/08

>120 ms 120 ms

>120 ms

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Elevation & Slant-Range

Not All Satellites are located above the Earth Station At Higher Elevation Angles Signals Traverse Less Atmosphere Overall Slant-Range is Reduced. Signal Strength is Inversely Proportional to the Square of the Distance Atmospheric Effects are Significant at Low elevation

Top of the Atmosphere Note the difference in traversed atmosphere 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 16

Elevation Angles & Atmospheric Effects

Atmospheric Effects are critical to signal path Loss 22,300 miles Earth to Satellite 1st 5 miles is most critical > 5 miles at low angles of elevation Atmospheric Problems Potential interference from terrestrial sources. Increased atmospheric absorption Partially depolarizes signal -

High Elevation Angle

Low Elevation Angle

Minimum Elevation Angles C-Band Elevations 5 Ku-Band Elevations 10

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Geo-Stationary Satellite Movement

North-South East-West

North-South perturbations Due to gravitational pulls of the Sun and Moon (Similar to Tidal Effects) North-South perturbations are the largest Most demanding on satellite fuel reserves East-West perturbations Due to lumpiness of the Earth Incorrect satellite velocity & altitude 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 18

North-South Satellite Movement

An Object not exactly over the equator, transcribes a figure eight pattern to an observer on Earth Satellite lateral errors can be as much as 3 at end of life Looks like an up and down motion two times every 24 hours Large Earth Station Antennas must track the motion 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 19

Satellite Orbit Stabilization & Life

Positioning is regularly corrected to within 0.1 Without correction the movement in the North-South direction will be about 0.85 per year 15 over the satellites typical 12 year lifetime Life of satellite is determined by how much fuel is stored to correct its position Last remaining fuel is used to move the satellite out of orbit Satellite fuel capacity is typically designed for 13 years, because the satellite technology becomes obsolete. Satellite life can be extended by making less frequent position corrections Allowing 3 latitude shift can extend the satellite life as much as 3 years. 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 20

Solar Outages Due to a Solar Eclipse

Satellites experience a solar eclipse two times a year Vernal & Autumnal equinoxes for about 6 weeks each year. Satellites are in the earth's shadow for a few minutes to as much as 65 minutes on the day of the equinox.

Equinox

65 Minutes

During Eclipse No Solar power - Need battery power No Solar warming Requires heaters. -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Satellite Eclipse of the sun

For about five days during the eclipse season (65 days) the sun passes behind the satellite with respect to the earth station. The background noise builds up as this event unfolds
Plateaus for about 10 minutes.

The satellite may be unusable (due to lower C/N) for this period
Traffic may have to be switched to another satellite.

Outage occurs around noon

Larger diameter receive antennas (small beam width) exhibit this a shorter time and fewer days Tracking: mode is usually turned off to prevent the Earth Station from the tracking the Sun, which at this time is a higher source of energy. 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 22

Non-Geostationary Satellites
Medium Earth Orbits (MEO) Low Earth Orbits (LEO)

Types of Orbits

Polar Equatorial Inclined 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 24

Orbit Shapes
Eliptical Orbit

Circular Elliptical Earth Circular Orbit

Satellite Orbital Shapes

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Polar Circular Orbital Characteristics

Full global coverage with a single satellite Continuous communications requires many satellites
Iridium uses 66 satellites

Transfer of information between satellites Information is handed off from satellite to satellite like a cellular system Satellite moves and customer stays relatively still Constellation of satellites separated in time and angle Every customer is always in the foot print Higher orbits require fewer satellites More terrestrial up-link (User) RF power 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 26

Keplers laws of Planetary Motion

Time T1 Kepler's Law of Planetary Motion Area A1

Same Time Area A1 Earth

Time T1

Satellite Eliptical Orbit

In the early 17th century, Kepler discovered the three laws of planetary motion: The orbits of the planets have the same physics as earth satellites. 1.The law of orbits: Planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one of the foci. 2.The law of areas: the line from the Sun to a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times. 3.The law of periods: The square of the period is proportional to the cube of the ellipse's major axis.
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Elliptical Satellite Orbits

Inclined Elliptical Orbits allow asymmetrical time coverage over different sectors of the Earth
Geostationary satellites do not provide coverage for the Polar regions Elliptical orbits cover the same area per unit time in all parts of the ellipse, Satellite travel slower further away To serve Polar Regions establish an Inclined Orbit with the apogee over the Polar regions Most of the satellites orbital time is over the Polar region 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 28

Low Earth Orbit Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantages: Reduced launch costs to place in low Earth orbit e.g., airplane/booster launched Reduced pass loss Lower Power, Lower cost satellite ($0.5-2M) Much shorter transmission delays Disadvantages: Short visibility from any point on earth, as little as 15 minutes Potentially large constellations Radiation effects reduce solar cells and electronics lifetimes Van Allen radiation belts limit orbit placement Belt 1: 1500-5000 km Belt 2: 13000-20000 km 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 29

LEO Example:

IRIDIUM

Voice (4.8 kbps), Data (2.4 kbps), Fax, Location Services 66 satellites in 6 polar orbits (780 km) Iridium has an atomic number 77 Original design called for 77 satellites 48 spot beams per satellite forming cells 230 simultaneous duplex conversations Satellite-to-satellite links as well as to ground Ka band @20 GHz to gateways & crosslinks, L band at 1.5GHz to handheld units FDMA uplink, TDMA downlink Supports satellite handoff during calls 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 30

Satellite Configurations: Bent Pipe

Keep the satellite simple RF to RF Frequency Translator C-Band Earth Station Transmits typically at 5.925 GHz to 6.425GHz Earth Station Receives signals at 3.7GHz to 4.2 GHz Satellite has a fixed Local Oscillator at 2.225 GHz Satellite transmits at a lower frequency (Less loss) Low Noise Amplifier
Local Oscillator

High Power Amplifier EIRP

G/T

Band Pass Filter

Mixer

Band Pass Filter

Satellite Transponder
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On-Board Processing vs. Bent Pipe

More control over signal routing Higher Cost, more complicated, Higher failures Typical Configurations RF to IF Microwave switch matrix IF to RF Allows Changing Signal Path Transponders RF to IF Demodulator Baseband Modulator IF to RF Reprocessing eliminated accumulative noise Intersatellite Links, Handing off Signals some LEO's Military satellites NASA TDRSS system 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 32

Typical C-Band Link

This Example Ignores Line, Atmospheric, and Other Losses. Does Not Include C/N Requirement Data.

Satellite HPA is smaller -

Adjust Power for weather

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Satellite Transponders
Satellite Bandwidth (Typically 500 MHz to 750MHz) is broken up into segments called transponders

Frequency

Transponders are characterized by:

Center Frequency Bandwidth Down Link power (Satellite EIRP)
Different bandwidths have different power All signals to a satellite must have the same power spectral density

Polarization 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 34

Frequency Reuse by Polarization Electromagnetic Wave Behavior

Direction of Propagation
Direction Vibration of Vibration
Direction of Vibration Direction of

Non-Polarized Electromagnetic Wave Viewed Head-On

Direction of Vibration

Polarization Refers to the orientation of the

electric field vector as a function of time. 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 35

Linear Polarization
Vertically Polarized Wave
E l e c t r o m a g n e

Horizontally Polarized Wave

t i c W a v e

Electromagnetic Wave Transmits in a single plane

Linear Polarization requires precision alignment of the transmitter and receiver, i.e. Satellite & Earth Station 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 36

Circular Polarization
Electromagnetic Plane rotates clockwise with time Right Hand Polarization Electromagnetic Plane rotates counterclockwise with time Left Hand Polarization A Right Hand Polarized Satellite signal is Left Hand Polarized at the Earth Station Mirror Image 05/29/08

Right Hand Polarization

Left Hand Polarization

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Creating Circular Polarization

Circular Sum RF Polarization RF In 90 Degree Out Delay Circular Polarization
Siganl A

Power Diveder

Circular polarization is achieved

Splitting the linearly polarized signal into two orthogonal vectors Delaying one with respect to the other by a quarter wave length (90) Summing the vectors -

Time #3 #2 #1 #1 #2 Delayed 90 Degrees

Signal B

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Polarization and Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse is receiving and transmitting signals at the same frequency, but with orthogonal polarization. Linear polarization needs absolute alignment Circular requires no alignment but more effected by rain Transponder Frequencies are offset to minimize interference
Frequency Reuse The same Frequency Band is used twice Separated by orthognol polarizations Vertical or Right Hand Circular

Depolarization causes transponder interference Frequency

Horizontal or Left Hand Circular

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Spatial Reuse Spot Beams

Each color is a different frequency range Similar colors dont touch 05/29/08 Howard Hausman,

Ka Band uses multiple narrow beams Focused beams cover a much smaller area Hundreds of miles across, rather than thousands of miles with Lower Frequency FSS Form coverage cells Adjacent cells use different frequency ranges Frequency range reused many times over a wide geographical area
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Advantage of Spot Beams

Large increase in overall capacity Spot beams provide 30 to 60 times the system capacity of the FSS Capacity of 30 Gbits/Sec makes satellite broadband services a long-term, economically viable business Flexible Spatial Redundancy with Phase Array Spot Beams Service is restored by moving beams to effected areas -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Earth Station Antennas Antenna Mounts

Fixed: views one satellite Inexpensive Elevation-Azimuth: Vertical and horizontal movement Narrow Beam Width High Gain 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 42

Azimuth & Elevation Angles

Azimuth is the axis of angular rotation Elevation is the Angle with respect to the horizon -

Azimuth

Elevation

Top View
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Parabolic Reflector Geometry

Signals are fed from a point source Feed Horn is the antenna
Reflector Feed Horn

Dish is a Reflector Geometry is such that all signals are reflected in parallel -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Parabolic Antenna Types

Prime Focus Feed

Simplest Antenna Design

Cassegrain Feed
Allows for Shorter Feedlines

Offset Feed
Minimizes Feed Blockage 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 45

Antenna Beam-Width
Antenna Beam Width

Beam width is the angle where the antenna power is within 3 dB of the peak
Beam Mid-Point: Boresight

Example: 3 Meter Antenna @ 4 GHz has a 1.75 Beam width (-3 dB) -

Beam width is a solid angle Beam width 21 / (F*D) in degrees (Parabolic dish) F = Frequency in GHz D = diameter of the dish in Meters For a parabolic dish D is the same in all directions

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Antenna Radiation Pattern

Main Beam First side lobe
HPBW

3dB

Beam-width Angle
Gain

-25dB
Back Lobe Isotropic Level Bore sight = 0 degrees -180 0

F/B

+180

All angles are referenced to Bore-sight is the Power (3dB) Beam Width Side Lobes: The antenna patterns are repeated at lower gains on either side of the main beam 05/29/08 Howard Hausman, MITEQ, Inc. 47

Side Lobe Radiation Problem

Side Lobe Energy Limits: Limit
interference to nearby satellites IESS Spec: Side Lobe Max: 29 - 25* Log 10 (A) in dB A = the angle off boresight. Angle Off Boresight

Bore Sight
< 0.5 dB

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Antenna Side Lobes Limits

Antenna shapes are often skewed to lower the side lobes Increases the beam width Lowers the antenna gain -

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MITEQ, Inc.

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Major Earth Stations Components

Typical Earth Station Configuration

HPAs Up Conv. UPC Modulators For each carrier De-Modulators

Antenna MITEQ Non-MITEQ LNAs Down Conv.

70MHz/140MHz L-Band

Tracking System Beacon Receivers

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Control / Monitoring

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Satellite Communications Summary Broadcasting

One Transmitter to millions of receivers

Voice, Data, Internet, etc. access everywhere

On the move In the Air Isolated locations

Communications with minimal infrastructure Satellite Communications is versatile enough to let your imagination runaway with ideas

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MITEQ, Inc.

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