Satellite Communications Link Optimization - Revhya

Rpublique du Cameroun Republic of Cameroon
Paix- Travail Patrie Peace- Work- Fatherland

Universit de Douala The University of Douala
Institut Universit de Technologie The University Institute of Technology

SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK OPTIMIZATION
December 15,
2012

ii

DEDICATION
I dedicate this work to my wife who has been pillar of strength to me
throughout this period.
To my mother and family as a whole for their enormous sacrifices and
support.

[SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS LINK OPTIMIZATION] December 15, 2012

EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I sincerely thank those who have participated in one way or the other for the success of this project
I thank particularly;
The Director of IUT Douala who offered me the opportunity to
spend this academic year in his institution.
Mr. Emmanuel Chimi who worked tirelessly to see that this work is
realised.
Engineer Foumba Hyacinthe, who guided me in my choice of
project and provided me with relevant documents
Engineer Petra Nain who took so much time in correcting the
document
Engineer Tianang Germain for the deep inside of his advice and
the pertinent remarks he made to me.
Engineer Nyem Nestor who advised me to return to go back to
school and who has been there to assist me in times of need.
To all my teachers at the University Institute of Technology(IUT),
Douala, for all the lessons we received and the good time we had
during this academic year
To all my classmates and friends with whom we share ideas during
this academic year.
Etoungou Olivier research teacher who helped me in the
presentation of my project.
Most especially to God who granted me the strength and wisdom
to finish this work.

December 15,
2012

iv

PREFACE
Created by the Presidential degree N
0
008/CAB/PR of 19January 1993, the University Institute of Technology (IUT),
Douala is a professional training Institute, created with the aim of satisfying the requirements of Industrial and
Tertiary Companies, by putting at their disposal skilled workers.
IUT of Douala is situated at CAMPUS 2of the University of Douala, in NDOG-BONG, with modern infrastructure and
up to date equipment thanks to the French corporation and multitude of partners around the world. It offers many
training opportunities among which are;
The initial training, which last for two years, at the end of which a diploma called DiplmeUniversitaire
de Technologie(DUT), is issued; with the possibility of extension to the third year for a degree in
Technology
Permanent training based on specific programs
Continuous training in which negotiations are carried out case-by-case with the Company that needs it.
The different fields are;
DUT
Platform Fields
PFTI( Industrial Technology) GIM(Maintenance Engineering)
GFE( Railway Engineering)
GTE( Mining Engineering)
GMP( Mechanical and Production Engineering)
PFTIN(Information and Digital Technology Platform) Electrical and Industrial Computer Engineering
GI(Computer Engineering)
GRT(Networking and Telecommunications Engineering)
GBM(Biomedical Engineering)
PFTT(Platform of Tertiary Technologies) GAPMO: Applied Management of Small and Medium
Size Company
GLT: Logistics and Transport Engineering
OGA: Organization and Administrative Management


EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS v

For BTS
ACO Commerce
CGE Enterprise Management Accounting
ET Electrotechnique
FM/CM Mechanical Manufacturing/ Mechanical Construction
II Industrial Computing

December 15,
2012

vi

ABSTRACT
The goal of this project is to provide means of optimizing a satellite
communications link. The project has two motivations;
1) The need to reduce the effect of atmospheric impairments, thermal noise, non-
linearity of satellite channels and interferences on signals, which reduces
availability and thus the reliability of a link
2) Satellite transponders resources such as bandwidth and power are limited, as
such the transponder leasing costs are determined by bandwidth and power
used. The more bandwidth and power we use the more costly the services
provided.
To achieve this goal, we will use advanced modulation, coding gain, fade
adaptation, and carrier cancelling technologies which can provide substantial
savings in bandwidth, improve capacity, improve reliability or all three while
maintaining contracted service agreement (SLA).
The outcome of this project is that there will be:
Reduce Operational Expenditure(OPEX)
o Occupied bandwidth and transponder resources will reduce
Reduce Capital Expenditure(CAPEX)
o BUC/HPA size and/or antenna size
Increase in throughput without the use of additional transponder resources
Increase in link availability (margin) without the use of additional
transponder resources
Or a combination to meet different objectives


EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS vii

RESUME
L'objectif de ce projet est de fournir des moyens d'optimisation dune liaison de communication
par satellite. Ce projet a deux grandes motivations:
i) La ncessit de rduire l'impact des perturbations atmosphriques, le bruit
thermique, la non-linarit des chanes satellitaires, des interfrences sur les signaux,
qui ont un impact ngatif sur la fiabilit de la liaison.
ii) La capacit de la charge utile : les transpondeurs satellitaires ont des ressources
limites en termes de bande passante et de la puissance, ce titre, les frais de
location du transpondeur sont dtermins par la bande passante et la puissance
utilise. Plus la bande passante et la puissance sont utilises, plus nous aurons
payer.
Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous aurons utiliser des techniques de modulation avance,
gain de codage, l'adaptation dvanouissement, technologies d'annulation de porteuse,
qui peuvent fournir des conomies substantielles en bande passante, amliorer la
capacit, amliorer la fiabilit, ou les trois, tout en maintenant l'accord de services sous
contrat (ASC).
Les rsultats attendus de ce projet sont:
Rduire les dpenses d'exploitation (OPEX)
o Largeur de bande occupe et les ressources transpondeur seront rduits
Rduire les dpenses en capital(CAPEX)
o Taille BUC / HPA et / ou la taille d'antenne
Augmenter le dbit sans utiliser les ressources supplmentaires du transpondeur
Accrotre la disponibilit lien (marge) sans utiliser les ressources supplmentaires
du transpondeur
Ou encore une combinaison pour rpondre aux objectifs diffrents

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2012

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface .......................................................................................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................................... vi
Resume .......................................................................................................................................................................... vii
Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................................................... xiv
General introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS ................................................................................... 2
1.1 Definition and Early History .......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Basic Satellite Communication System Definition ........................................................................................ 4
1.2.1 The Space Segment .................................................................................................................................. 4
.1.2.2 The Ground Segment ............................................................................................................................... 5
1.3. Satellite Link Parameters .......................................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Satellite Orbits .............................................................................................................................................. 6
1.5 Radio Regulations ......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Space Radiocommunications Services .......................................................................................................... 7
1.7 Frequency bands ........................................................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 2-SATELLITE ORBITS ...................................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Keplers laws ............................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1.1 Keplers First Law .................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1.2 keplers second law ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.3 Keplers third law ........................................................................................................................................ 11
2.3 orbital parameters .......................................................................................................................................... 12
2.3 Orbits in common use ..................................................................................................................................... 13
2.3.1 Geostationary orbit .................................................................................................................................... 13
2.3.2 Geosynchronous orbit ................................................................................................................................ 13

EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS ix

2.3.3 Low earth ORBIT (Leo) ................................................................................................................................ 14
2.3.4 Medium earth orbit .................................................................................................................................... 14
2.3.5 Highly elliptical orbit ................................................................................................................................... 14
2.3.6 Polar orbit ................................................................................................................................................... 15
2.3.7 Geometry of GSO Link ................................................................................................................................ 15
Chapter 3 satellite subsystems .................................................................................................................................. 16
3.1 satellite bus ................................................................................................................................................. 17
3.1.1 Physical structure ........................................................................................................................................ 17
3.1.2 Power Subsystem ........................................................................................................................................ 18
3.1.3 Attitude control ........................................................................................................................................... 18
3.1.4 Orbital control ............................................................................................................................................. 19
3.1.5 Thermal Control .......................................................................................................................................... 19
3.1.6 Tracking, Telemetry, command and Monitoring ......................................................................................... 20
3.2 Satellite Payload ................................................................................................................................................. 21
3.2.1 Transponder ........................................................................................................................................... 21
3.2.1.1 frequency translation transponder .................................................................................................... 21
3.2.1.2 on-board processing transponder ..................................................................................................... 22
3.2.2 antennas ..................................................................................................................................................... 23
CHAPTER 4 noise .......................................................................................................................................................... 23
4.1 types of noise .............................................................................................................................................. 24
4.1.1 thermal noise ......................................................................................................................................... 25
4.2 interference ................................................................................................................................................ 27
4.3 intermodulation .......................................................................................................................................... 29
chapter 5- impairments ................................................................................................................................................ 29
5.1 signal attenuation ....................................................................................................................................... 30
5.1.1 rain attenuation...................................................................................................................................... 30
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x

5.1.2 GASEOUS attenuation ............................................................................................................................ 31
5.1.3 cloud attenuation ................................................................................................................................... 31
5.1.4 snow and ice attenuation ............................................................................................................................ 32
5.2 signal path effect related to refraction .............................................................................................................. 32
5.2.1 Tropospheric scintillation ............................................................................................................................ 32
5.2.2 signal polarization effects ........................................................................................................................... 33
chapter 6: modulation and coding .............................................................................................................................. 35
6.1 types of modulation ........................................................................................................................................... 35
6.1.1 types of phase shift keying modulation and bandwidth efficiency ............................................................. 36
6.1.2 power efficiency of the various schemes .................................................................................................... 37
6.1.3 power requirement of various schemes-e
b
/n
o
vs BER ................................................................................ 38
6.2 CHANNEL encoding ............................................................................................................................................ 39
6.2.1 Block encoding and convolutional encoding ................................................................................................... 39
6.2.1.1 block encoding ......................................................................................................................................... 39
6.2.1.2 convolution encoding ............................................................................................................................... 40
6.2.2 concatenated encoding ............................................................................................................................... 40
6.2.3 Turbo codes ................................................................................................................................................. 40
6.2.4 Low Density Parity check CODES (LDPC) ..................................................................................................... 40
6.3 channel decoding ............................................................................................................................................... 41
6.4 power-bandwidth tradeoff ................................................................................................................................. 42
6.4.1 coding with variable bandwidth .................................................................................................................. 42
6.4.2 coding with constant bandwidth ................................................................................................................. 42
chapter 7 SATELLITE LINK Budget ................................................................................................................................ 43
7.1 configuration of a link ........................................................................................................................................ 43
7.2 antenna parameters ........................................................................................................................................... 44
7.2.1 antenna gains .............................................................................................................................................. 44

EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS xi

7.2.2 radiation pattern and angular beamwidth .................................................................................................. 45
7.2.3 Polarization.................................................................................................................................................. 46
7.3 radiated power ................................................................................................................................................... 48
7.3.1 effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) ................................................................................................... 48
7.3.2 power flux density ....................................................................................................................................... 48
7.4 Received signal power ........................................................................................................................................ 49
7.4.1 Power captured by the receiving antenna and free space path loss .......................................................... 49
7.5 additional losses ................................................................................................................................................. 50
7.5.1 attenuation in the atmosphere ................................................................................................................... 51
7.5.2 LOSSES IN THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING EQUIPMENT .................................................................... 51
7.5.3 DEPOINTING LOSSES ................................................................................................................................... 52
7.5.4 losses due to polarization mismatch ........................................................................................................... 52
7.5.5 conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 53
7.6 noise power spectral density at the receiver input ............................................................................................ 53
7.6.1 origin of noise .............................................................................................................................................. 53
7.6.2 Noise CHARACTERIZATION .......................................................................................................................... 53
7.6.3 noise temperature of a noise source .......................................................................................................... 54
7.6.4 noise figure .................................................................................................................................................. 54
7.6.5 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF AN ATTENUATOR ................................................................... 54
7.6.6 effective input noise temperature of cascaded elements .......................................................................... 54
7.6.7 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A RECEIVER ............................................................................ 55
7.6.8 antenna noise temperature ........................................................................................................................ 55
7.6.8 noise temperature of a satellite antenna .................................................................................................... 55
7.6.9 noise temperature of an earth station ANTENNA (downlink) ..................................................................... 56
7.7 SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE ........................................................................................................................... 56
7.7.1 conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 57
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xii

7.8 individual link performance ................................................................................................................................ 57
7.8.1 carrier to noise power spectral density ratio at the receiver input ............................................................ 58
7.8.2 clear sky condition ....................................................................................................................................... 59
7.9 link performance under rain conditions ............................................................................................................. 63
7.9.1 uplink performance ..................................................................................................................................... 63
7.9.2 downlink performance ................................................................................................................................ 64
7.9.3 conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 64
7.10 overall link performance with a transparent satellite ...................................................................................... 65
7.10.1 characteristics of the satellite channel ...................................................................................................... 65
7.10.2 satellite power flux density at saturation ................................................................................................. 66
7.10.3 satellite eirp at saturation ......................................................................................................................... 67
7.10.4 satellite repeater gain ............................................................................................................................... 67
7.10.5 input AND OUTPUT BACK-OFF .................................................................................................................. 68
7.10.6 carrier power at the satellite receiver input ............................................................................................. 68
7.10.7 expression for without interference from other systems or intermodulation............................... 69
7.10.8 expression for taking account of INTERFERENCE and intermodulation ......................................... 70
chapter 8 optimization ................................................................................................................................................. 70
8.1 link Margin.......................................................................................................................................................... 70
8.2 Power restoral techniques ................................................................................................................................. 71
8.2.1 beam diversity ................................................................................................................................................. 71
8.3 power control ..................................................................................................................................................... 72
8.3.1 uplink power control ................................................................................................................................... 72
8.4 site diversity ....................................................................................................................................................... 73
8.5 signal modification techniques .......................................................................................................................... 74
8.5.1 Optimization By Doubletalk carrier-in-carrier ............................................................................................. 74
8.5.6 Double Talk Carrier-in-carrier cancellation process ........................................................................................ 76

EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS xiii

8.6 adaptive coding and MODULATION (ACM) ........................................................................................................ 77
8.6.1 acm background .......................................................................................................................................... 78
8.6.2 requirements for ACM ................................................................................................................................ 79
9.0 general conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 80
Bibliographic references .............................................................................................................................................. 81

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xiv

ACRONYMS
ACI ADJACENT CHANNEL
INTERFERENCE
ES EARTH STATION
ADC ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION FDM FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEX
ADM ADAPTIVE DELTA MODULATION FEC FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION
ADPCM ADAPTIVE PULSE CODE
MODULATION
FES FIXED EARTH STATION
ALC AUTOMATIC LEVEL CONTROL FGM FIXED GAIN MODE
AM AMPLITUDE MODULATION FM FREQUENCY MODULATION
AMSS AERONAUTIC AL MOBILE SATELLITE
SERVICE
FSS FIXED SATELLITE SERVICES
APSK AMPLITUDE PHASE SHIFT KEYING GC GLOBAL COVERAGE
AR AXIAL RATIO GCS GROUND CONTROL STATION
BEP BIT ERROR PROBABILITY GEO GEOSTATIONARY EARTH ORBIT
BER BIT ERROR RATE GSO GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE ORBIT
BPF BAND PASS FILTER HEO HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL ORBIT
BPSK BINARY PHASE SHIFT KEYING HIO HIGHLY INCLINED ORBIT
BS BASE STATION HPA HIGH POWER AMPLIFIER
BSS BROADCAST SATELLITE SERVICE HPB HALF POWER BANDWIDTH
BW BANDWIDTH IBO INPUT BACK-OFF

EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS xv

CAMP CHANNEL AMPLIFIER IF INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY
CCI CO CHANNEL INTERFERENCE IMUX INPUT MULTIPLEX
CDMA CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS INMARSAT INTERNATIONAL MARITIME SATELLITE
ORGANIZATION
D/C DOWN CONVERTER INTELSAT INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SATELLITE CONSORTIUM
DA DEMAND ASSIGNMENT IOT IN ORBIT TEST
dB DECIBEL ISL INTER SATELLITE LINK
DE Differentially ENCODED ITU INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
UNION
DEMOD Demodulator
EIRP EFFECTIVE ISOTROPIC RADIATED
POWER

LEO LOW EARTH ORBIT PLMN PUBLIC LAND MOBILE NETWORK
LHCP LEFT HAND CIRCULAR
POLARIZATION
PM PHASE MODULATION
LNA LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER POL POLARIZATION
LNB LOW NOISE BLOCK PSK PHASE SHIFT KEYING
LO LOCAL OSCILLATOR PSTN PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK
LPF LOW PASS FILTER PTN PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
MCPC MULTIPLE CHANNEL PER CARRIER PTO PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR
MEO MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT QoS QUALITY OF SERVICE
MES MOBILE EARTH STATION QPSK QUADRATURE PHASE SHIFT KEYING
MF MULTIFREQUENCY RF RADIO FREQUENCY
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xvi

MOD MODULATOR RHCP RIGHT HAND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION
MODEM MODULATOR/DEMODULATOR RS REED SOLOMON(coding)
MSK MINIMUM SHIFT KEYING RX RECEIVER
MSS MOBILE SATELLITE SERVICE SC SUPPRESSED CARRIER
MUX MULTIPLEXER SCPC SINGLE CHANNEL PER CARRIER
MX MIXER SEP SYMBOL ERROR PROBABILITY
NASA NATIONAL AERONAUTIC AND SPACE
ADMINISTRATION
SL SATELLITE
N-GSO NON-GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE
ORBIT
SNR SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
OBO OUTPUT BACK-OFF TWTA TRAVELING WAVE TUBE AMPLIFIER
OBP ON BOARD PROCESSING TX TRANSMITTER
PCM PULSE CODE MODULATION VSAT VERY SMALL APERTURE TERMINAL
PCS PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
SYSTEM
XPD CROSS POLARIZATION DISCRIMINATION
PDF PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION XPI CROSS POLARIZATION ISOLATION
PLL PHASE LOCKED LOOP Xponder TRANSPONDER


EKENKO FONJOCK COLUMBUS 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Since their introduction in the mid-1960s, satellite communications have grown from a futuristic
experiment into an integral part of todays wired world. Satellite communications are at the core
of a global, automatically switched telephony network.

Todays communications satellite have extensive capabilities in applications involving data, voice
and video with services provided to fixed, broadcast, mobile, personal communications and private
users.

But Satellite communication is highly affected by propagation impairments at the atmosphere, non-
linearity of the satellite channel, Thermal noise, Interferences and also regulatory constraints.
Therefore a good knowledge and modeling of the propagation channel is necessary for the
performance assessment. This is thus a major preoccupation of most satellite operators.

This project is organized as follows:
The first three chapters give a general overview of the satellite communication system.
Chapters 4 and 5 presents a brief description of the impairments encountered in this domain.
Chapter 6 briefly describes modulation and coding. Chapter 7 presents the parameters necessary to
calculate the performance of a link and concludes with the calculation of link performance, for an
uplink, a downlink and overall link from transmitter through satellite to receiver.
Chapter 8 presents the different means of optimizing a satellite link. The first part, using power
restoral techniques and the second part using signal modification techniques.

December 15,
2012

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
1.1 DEFINITION AND EARLY HISTORY
A communications satellite is an orbiting artificial earth satellite that receives a communications signal
from a transmitting ground station, amplifies and possibly processes it, then transmits it back to the
earth for reception by one or more receiving ground stations. Communications information neither
originates nor terminates at the satellite itself. The satellite is an active transmission relay, similar in
function to relay towers used in terrestrial microwave communications.
The Commercial communication Satellite exists since the mid-1960s.Within a space of about 50years, it
has grown from an alternative technology to a mainstream transmission technology. Todays
communication satellites offer extensive capabilities in applications involving data, voice and video, with
services provided to fixed, broadcast, mobile and personal communication and private network users
Communications Satellites offer advantages that are not readily available in other alternative modes of
transmissions such as terrestrial microwave, cable or fiber optic networks, such as:
Distance Independent cost: The cost is the same, regardless of the distance between the
transmitting and the receiving earth stations.
Fixed Broadcast Cost: Broadcast from an earth station to a number of other earth station is
independent of the number of earth stations receiving the transmission.
High capacity: Capacity ranges from 10s of megabits to 100s of Mbps
Low error rate: Bit errors on a digital satellite link turns to be random, allowing statistical
detection and error correction techniques to be used. Error rates of one error in 10
6
bits and
higher can be seen commonly.
Diverse User Network. Due to its large coverage area, it can be used to interconnect land, sea
and air users who can be mobile or fixed



The idea of an artificial orbiting satellite capable of relaying communication to and from the earth is
attributed to Arthur C. Clarke. Below is a table with information concerning the early satellites, their
launched dates, and basic information concerning the satellites.

Satellite name Launched date Basic Function/use
SPUNIK1 1957 USSR
SCORE 1958 By USA Relayed a recorded voice message with delay
ECHO1 &2 1960 BY NASA
COURIER October 1960 First to employ solar cells for power
WESTFORD 1963 by US
Army
Voice and frequency shift keying transmission.
TELSTAR 1&2 1962 and 1963 Multichannel telephone, telegraph, facsimile and television transmission
RELAY1 & 2 1962 and 1964 Extensive telephony and network television transmission between USA,
Europe and Japan
SYNCOM2 & 3 1963 and 1964 First communication from a synchronous satellite
EARLY BIRD 1965 First commercial communication from a synchronous satellite.
Later called INTELSAT
ATS-1 1966 First multiple access communication from synchronous orbit
ATS-3 1967 Multiple access communication with Orbit Control
ATS-5 1969 Design to provide propagation data on the effect of the atmosphere on Earth-
Space communication.
INTELSAT 1964 Created , becoming the recognized international legal entity satellite
communication
Table1.1 satellite history
These early accomplishments and events led to the rapid growth of the satellite communications
industry, beginning in the mid-1960s. INTELSAT was the prime mover in that time focusing on the
benefits of satellite communication to many nations

December 15,
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4

1.2 BASIC SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM DEFINITION
Satellite communications system is broken down into two main segments: the space segment and the
ground (or earth) segment.
1.2.1 THE SPACE SEGMENT
The elements of the space segment in a satellite communications system are shown in figure 1.1.The
space segment includes the satellite (or satellites) in orbit and the ground station that provide the
operational control of the satellite(s) in orbit. This ground station is sometimes referred to as Tracking,
Telemetry and Command (TT&C) or Tracking, Telemetry, Command and Monitoring (TTC&M) station.
The TTC&M station provides essential space craft management and control functions to keep the
satellite operating in Orbit.
The TTC&M Links between the spacecraft or
satellite are usually from the user
communications link. Most of the time,
TTC&M is accomplished through separate
earth terminal facilities, design for this
purpose.

Figure 1.1 TTC&M


.1.2.2 THE GROUND SEGMENT

It consists of the earth terminal(s) that make use of the communication capabilities of the space
segment. It should be noted that the TTC&M do not make part of the ground segment.
The ground segment terminals could be one of the following:
Fixed Terminals
Transportable Terminals
Mobile Terminals
1.3. SATELLITE LINK PARAMETERS

Satellite communications link is defined by several parameters as shown in figure 1.2. These parameters
are used in the evaluation of a satellite communication link. The portion of the link from the earth station
to the satellite is called uplink, while the portion from the satellite to the ground station is called
downlink. Either station in the figure has an uplink and a downlink. The electronics in the satellites that
receives the uplink signal, amplifies and possibly processes the signal and then reformat and retransmit
the signal back to the downlink is called a transponder. It is indicated by the triangular symbol in the
figure. The Antennas of the satellite that receives the signal and transmit it on the downlink are not
included as part of the transponder electronics. A channel is defined as a one way link from A-to-S-to-B
or from B-to-S-to-A. A duplex link from A-to-S-to-B and from B-to-S-to-A is called a circuit. A Half-Circuit
is the link from an earth station to the satellite and back. That is A-to-S and S-to-A is a half-circuit.

Figure 1.2 Basic Link Parameters of a satellite Communications Link
December 15,
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6

1.4 SATELLITE ORBITS
A detail description of satellite orbits will be given in chapter 2. We introduce here the four most
commonly used orbits, their altitudes and one way delay time. This information is given in table 1.2
below.
Satellite Orbit Orbital Altitude One-way delay
Geostationary Earth
Orbit(GSO)
36000km 260ms
Low Earth Orbit(LEO) 160-640km 10ms
Medium Earth
Orbit(MEO)
1600-4200km 100ms
High Earth Orbit(HEO) 40000km 10 to 260ms
Table1.2: common satellite orbit
1.5 RADIO REGULATIONS
Radio Regulations are necessary to ensure an efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum by all
communication systems including terrestrial and satellite. All satellite operators must operate within the
constraints of regulations related to fundamental parameters and characteristics of the satellite
communications system. The satellite communication parameters that are regulated include the
following;
Radiating frequency
Maximum allowable radiated power
Orbit Location(slot) for GSO
The purpose of the regulation is to minimize radio frequency interference and to some extent, physical
interference between systems. Potential radio interferences are not only from other satellite systems but
also from other terrestrial systems operating in the same frequency band. Two levels of regulations and
allocation are involved in the process: International and domestic. The primary organization responsible
for international satellite communication system regulation and allocation is the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
ITU has three primary functions:
Allocation and Use of the radio- frequency spectrum;
Telecommunications standardization;
Development and expansion of worldwide telecommunication


These functions are accomplished through the three sectors of ITU organization: The
Radiocommunications Sector (ITU-R), responsible for the frequency allocations and use of the radio-
frequency spectrum. The Telecommunications Standard Sector (ITU-T), responsible for
telecommunications standards and the Telecommunications Development Sector (ITU-D), responsible for
the development and expansion of worldwide telecommunications.
The International regulations developed by ITU are processed by each country, where domestic level
regulations are developed. Each Country is left to manage and enforce the regulations within its
boundaries.
In Cameroun this is managed by the Telecommunication Regulations Agency (ART).
1.6 SPACE RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Two attributes determine the specific frequency band and other regulatory factors for a particular
satellite system.
Service(s) to be provided by the particular satellite system/Network; and
The Location(s) of the ground terminals
Services applicable to satellite systems as designated by ITU are:
Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Services(AMSS)
Aeronautical Radionavigation Satellite Service(ARSS)
Amateur Satellite Service(ASS)
Broadcasting Satellite Service(BSS)
Earth-exploration Satellite Service(ESS)
Fixed Satellite Service(FSS)
Inter-satellite Service(ISS)
Land Mobile satellite Service(LMSS)
Maritime Mobile Satellite(MMSS)
Maritime Radionavigation Satellite(MRSS)
Meteorological Satellite(MSS)
Mobile Satellite(MSS)
Radionavigation Satellite(RSS)
Space Operations(SOSS)
Space Research(SRSS)
Standard Frequency Satellite(SFSS)
Some of the services are divided into sub areas. For example the mobile satellite service (MSS) is further
divided into Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Service (AMSS), Land Mobile Satellite Service (LMSS), and
Maritime Mobile Satellite Service (MMSS), with respect to the location of the ground terminals.
December 15,
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8

The Location of the satellite system ground terminal, which is the second attribute, depends on the
service region. ITU divides the globe into three Telecommunications Service regions. Region1 consist of
Europe and Africa, Region2 the Americas, Region3 the Pacific Rim countries. Each of these regions is
treated independently in terms of frequency allocation. It is assumed that systems operating in any of
these regions are protected from those in another because of the geographical separation between
them.
1.7 FREQUENCY BANDS
The frequency of operation is one of the major factors in the design and performance of a satellite
communication system as its wavelength will determine the interaction effect of the atmosphere, and
the resulting link degradation. Two types of designations are used; The Letter Designation and the
designation which divides the spectrum from 3Hz to 300GHz. These are shown in the tables below
Designation Frequency
C 6GHz up/ 4GHz down
X 8GHz up/ 7GHz down
Ku 14GHz up/ 11GHz down
Ka 30GHz up/20GHz down

Table: 1.3 Frequency bands used in satellite communications



Below is a table that briefly summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used
frequency bands in satellite communications
Frequency Band Advantages Disadvantages
C-Band
-Wide footprint coverage
-Minor effects from rain
-Lower cost for earth
station antenna

-Requires large antennas
-Requires Larger RF power amplifiers
-Affected by terrestrial interference
-Difficult to obtain transmit license
Ku-Band
-Smaller antennas
-Smaller RF power
amplifiers

Greater effect from rain
Smaller footprint (beam) coverage

Ka-Band
Smaller antenna
Smaller RF power
amplifier

Greater effect from
rain
Smaller footprint
(beam) coverage
High equipment cost

Table: 1.4 summary of advantages and disadvantages of main satellite frequency bands
December 15,
2012

10

CHAPTER 2-SATELLITE ORBITS
The same laws of motion that govern the movement of the planets
around sun also control the movement of artificial satellites around
the earth. Satellite Orbital determination is based on the laws of
motion developed by Kepler and later refined by newton.
Competing forces act on the satellite; gravity turns to pull the
satellite in towards the earth, while its orbital velocity turns to pull
the satellite away from the earth. These forces are shown in figure
2.1
The gravitational force, F
in
and the angular velocity, F
out
are represented
as
F
in
= m (
) .2.1
and F
out
=m
(
).2.2where
m=the satellite
mass, v= the
satellite velocity
in the plane of
its orbit,
r=orbital radius
(distance from
the center of the earth); and =Keplers constant (Geocentric
gravitational constant) =3.9864002x
Km
3
/s
2
. If the
gravitational force from the sun, moon and other bodies are
neglected, then F
in
=F
out
and the velocity necessary to keep the
satellite in orbit will be
V= (
) ..2.3

The orbital locations of
the spacecraft in a
communications
satellite system play a
major role in
determining the
coverage and
operational
characteristics of the
services provided by
that system. This
chapter describes the
general characteristics
of satellite orbits and
summarizes the
characteristics of the
most popular orbits for
communications
applications.


2.1 KEPLERS LAWS
Keplers laws apply to any two bodies in space that interact through gravitation.
2.1.1 KEPLERS FIRST LAW
Keplers first law as applied to artificial satellite orbits goes thus: the path followed by a satellite around
the earth will be an ellipse, with the center of mass
of the earth as one of the two foci of the ellipse.
If no other forces are acting on the satellite, either
intentionally by orbit control or unintentionally as
in gravity forces from other bodies, the satellite
will eventually settle in an elliptical orbit, with the
earth as one of the foci of the ellipse. The size of
the ellipse will depend on the satellite mass and its
angular velocity.
2.1.2 KEPLERS SECOND LAW
For equal time interval, the satellite sweeps out
equal area in the orbital plane. This is shown in
figure 2.3.The shaded area A
1
shows the area
swept out in the orbital plane by the orbiting satellite in one hour time period at a location near the
earth. According to the second law, the area A
2,
swept out around the point furthest from the earth is
also equal to A
1
. That is A
1
=A
2

This result shows that the satellite orbital velocity is not constant; the satellite moves faster at locations
near the earth, and slows down at locations around the apogee.
2.3 KEPLERS THIRD LAW
The square of the periodic time of orbit is proportional to the cube of the mean distance between the
two bodies.
That is T
2
= [
]a
3
, where T=orbital period in seconds s, a= distance between the bodies in km and
=Keplers constant=3.986004x10
5
km
3
/s
2

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2012

12

2.3 ORBITAL PARAMETERS
Important orbital parameters used for defining earth-orbiting satellite characteristics are:
Apogee-The point furthest from the earth.
Perigee-The point of closest approach to earth
Line of Apsides-the line joining the perigee and apogee through the center of the earth
Ascending Node-The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to
north
Descending Node-The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to
north
Lines of Nodes- The line joining the ascending and the descending nodes through the center of
the earth.
Argument of Perigee,- The angle from ascending node to perigee, measured in the orbital.
The eccentricity-is a measure of the circularity of the orbit. It is determined from

Where e=eccentricity of the orbit;

r
a
=distance from the center of the
earth to the apogee point, r
p
=distance from the center of the earth to the perigee point.



A circular orbit is a special case of an ellipse with equal major and minor axes (e=o)
That is for Elliptical orbit 0 < e < 1 and for Circular Orbit e = 0.
Inclination Angle
is the angle between the orbital plane and the earths equatorial
plane.
A satellite that is in an orbit with some inclination angle is said to be in an Inclined Orbit. A satellite that
is in orbit in the equatorial plane (inclination angle = 0) is in an Equatorial Orbit. A satellite in an orbit
with inclination angle of
is said to be in a polar orbit.

All these orbits may be circular or elliptical depending on the orbital velocity and the direction of motion
imparted to the satellite on insertion into orbit. An orbit in which the satellite moves in the same
direction as the earths rotation is called a Prograde orbit, inclination angle 0 <
< 90. A satellite in a

retrograde orbit moves in the opposite direction to earth rotation, inclination angle 90 <
< 180
Most satellites are launched in Prograde orbit because the earths rotational velocity enhances the
satellite orbital velocity, reducing the amount of energy required to launch and place the satellite in
orbit.
2.3 ORBITS IN COMMON USE
2.3.1 GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT
Keplers third law shows that there is a fixed relationship between orbit radius and the period of
revolution of the satellite. If we carefully choose an orbit radius we can determine the orbit period.
If an orbit radius is chosen so that the period of revolution of the satellite is exactly set to the period of
rotation of the earth. Also if the orbit is circular (e = 0) and the orbit is in the equatorial plane (
=0), the
satellite will appear to hover motionless above the earth. This orbit is called Geostationary Earth Orbit
(GEO). This orbit radius is 42104Km. The GEO is an ideal orbit that cannot be achieved for real artificial
satellites because there are many other forces acting on the satellite apart of the earth gravity. In
addition to this, extensive station keeping and a vast amount of fuel is necessary to maintain the satellite
in this orbit.
2.3.2 GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT
It is one whose inclination angle is slightly greater than zero and possibly with an eccentricity above zero.
Its at an altitude of 36000Km. Most current communications satellites operate in geosynchronous orbit.
Advantages
-Its the most common orbit
-Fixed slant path
-little or no ground station tracking required
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2012

14

-2 to 3 satellites for global coverage (except at the poles)
-period of revolution is 23hours, 56minutes
Disadvantages
-Large path loss and significant latency (approximately 260ms for a duplex communication)
-cannot provide reliable coverage to high latitude locations. Coverage can be improved by using high
elevation angle but this produces problems such as increase ground station antenna tracking, which
increases cost and system complexity.
2.3.3 LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO)
Operate typically at an altitude from 160 2400Km and is near circular and requires earth tracking
terminals for continuous service.
Advantages
-Shorter earth satellite link, leading to lower path loss as such smaller power and smaller antenna
systems
-can cover high latitude locations
-the satellite is much smaller in size, as such requires less energy to put it in orbit
Disadvantages
-A constellation of multiple LEO (12, 24, 66 etc.) to provide global coverage
-approximately 8 to 10 minutes per pass of an earth terminal
-Requires earth antenna tracking
-Oblateness or non-spherical nature of the earth causes major perturbations to LEO obit.
2.3.4 MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT
It is situated at an altitude from 10,000 to 20,000Km similar to LEO, but higher circular orbit.
One to two hours per pass for an earth terminal
Requires a constellation of satellite to provide global coverage, for example GPS requires up to 24
satellites.
It is mostly used for meteorological, remote sensing and position location application
2.3.5 HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL ORBIT
Popular for high latitude or polar coverage
Often referred to as MOLNIYA orbit
Eight to ten hour per pass for an earth terminal
Typical MOLNIYA orbit has a perigee altitude of 1000Km and an apogee altitude of nearly 40,000Km.



2.3.6 POLAR ORBIT
Circular orbit with an inclination near

Useful for sensing and data gathering services
2.3.7 GEOMETRY OF GSO LINK
GSO is the dominant orbit in use for communication satellites. Three key parameters of the GSO orbit are
used for evaluation of satellite link performance.
(distance) from the earth(Earth Station) to the satellite, in km

from the earth station to the satellite in degrees

from the earth station to the satellite in degrees
Azimuth and elevation angles are called the look angle of the earth station to the satellite. This is shown
in figure 2.4
Input parameters that can be used with software tools for determining the look angle are:
-

-L
e
=Earth Station Latitude
-L
s
=Satellite latitude
There are also software tools which require just the Country, name of the town and antenna size to find
the look angle

December 15,
2012

16

CHAPTER 3 SATELLITE SUBSYSTEMS
A basic satellite system consists of a satellite (satellites) in space, relaying information between two or more users
through ground terminals and the satellite. The information relayed may be voice, data, video or a combination of
the three. The satellite is controlled from the ground through a satellite control facility, often called the Master
Control Center (MCC), which provide tracking, telemetry, command and monitoring for the system.
The Space Segment of the satellite system consist of the orbiting satellite (or satellites) and the ground satellite
control facilities necessary to keep the satellite(s) operational.
The Ground Segment or Earth Segment of the satellite system, consist of the transmit and receive earth stations
and the associated equipment to interface with the user network, as shown in figure 3.1
Focus will be on the space segment of a general communication satellite
The Space segment equipment on-board the satellite can be divided into: BUS and
PAYLOAD.
-BUS: It refers to the basic satellite structure and the subsystem that supports the
satellite.
The BUS subsystems are: Physical Structure, Power Subsystem, Attitude and Orbital
Control subsystems, command and telemetry subsystem.
-PAYLOAD: It is the equipment that provide the service or services intended for the
satellite
A communication payload can be further divided into Transponder and antenna
subsystems as shown in figure 3.2



3.1 SATELLITE BUS
The basic characteristics of a BUS subsystem are described below.
3.1.1 PHYSICAL STRUCTURE
It contains the other components of the satellite.
The basic shape of the structure depends on the method of stabilization employed to keep the satellite stable and
pointing to the desired direction; usually to keep the antenna properly oriented towards the earth.
Two methods of stabilization are employed: Spin Stabilization and three-axis or body stabilized. These are shown
below

Spin stabilized 1 fig 3.3a
Three-axis stabilized 1 fig 3.3b
3-Axis stabilized
Larger solar cells area
Solar arrays can be
Slewed to provide more or
Less power as required

Spin stabilized
Solar Cells are spinning
Solar cell efficiency due to limited visibility
to the sun
Antenna is de-spun to keep
it pointing towards the earth

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18

3.1.2 POWER SUBSYSTEM
The electrical power for operating equipmen
t on a communication satellite is obtained primarily from solar cells, which convert
incident sunlight into electrical energy. Solar cells operate at an efficiency of
at the Beginning of Life (BOL) and can degrade to at the End of Life (EOL),
usually considered to be 15years. In addition large number of cells connected in serial-
parallel arrays, are required to support the communication satellite electronic system.

Two types of batteries:
Specific energy density Nickel - cadmium: 25 - 30 W.hr/Kg
Nickel - Hydrogen: 25 - 60 W.hr/Kg
GEO LEO
Depth of discharge (DOD) Nickel - cadmium 50% 10-20%
Nickel hydrogen 70% 40-50%

3.1.3 ATTITUDE CONTROL
The attitude of a satellite refers to the orientation in space with respect to the earth. It helps the narrow
directional beam antenna to be pointed correctly to earth. Several forces can interact to affect the
attitude of a spacecraft. These forces are gravitational forces from the sun, moon and planet, solar
pressure acting on the spacecraft body, antenna and solar panels, earths gravitational field force.


The orientation is monitored on the spacecraft by Infrared Horizon Detectors. Four detectors are used to
establish a reference point; usually the center of the earth and any shift in orientation is detected by one
or more of the sensors. A control signal is generated that is used to activate attitude control devices to
restore proper orientation.
Gas jets, ion thrusters and momentum wheels are used to provide active attitude control on
communications satellites. Since the earth is not a perfect sphere, the satellite will be accelerated
towards one of the stable points in the equatorial plane. This locations are and. In the
absence of orbital control, the satellite will drift and settle in one of these stable locations.
3.1.4 ORBITAL CONTROL
Orbital Control often referred to as Station Keeping, is the process required to maintain the satellite in
its proper orbit location. It is similar to though not the same as attitude control. GSO satellites will
undergo forces that will cause the satellite to drift in the East-West (longitude) direction and the North-
South (Latitude) direction. Orbital Control is usually maintained using Gas jets, Ion thrusters and
momentum wheels.
The non-spherical properties of the earth primarily exhibited as an equatorial bulge, cause the satellite to
drift slowly in longitude along the equatorial plane. Control jets are pulsed to impart an opposite velocity
component to the satellite, causing the satellite to drift back to its nominal position. This is called East-
West Station Keeping Maneuvers, which are accomplished every two to three weeks.
North-South Station Keeping requires more fuel than East-West Station Keeping and often satellites are
maintained with few or no North-South station keeping to extend the satellites life orbit life.
The quantity of fuel that must be carried on-board the satellite to provide orbital and attitude control is
usually a determinant factor in the on-orbit life of a communication satellite.
3.1.5 THERMAL CONTROL
Thermal radiation from the sun heats on one side of the spacecraft, while the side facing the outer space
is exposed to extremely low temperature. Most of the equipment in the satellite itself generates heat,
which must be controlled.
Satellite thermal control is design to control the large thermal gradient generated in the satellite by
removing or relocating the heat to provide as stable as possible temperature environment for the
satellite.
-Thermal Blankets and Thermal Shield are placed at critical locations to provide insulation. Radiation
Mirrors are placed around electronic subsystems to protect critical equipment. Heat Pumps are used to
relocate heat from power devices such as Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTA) to outer walls or heat
December 15,
2012

20

sinks. Thermal heaters can also be used to maintain adequate temperature conditions for some
components, such as propulsion lines or thrusters, where low temperature would cause severe
problems.
Satellite antennas are highly affected by the heat from the sun. Large aperture antenna can be twisted.
3.1.6 TRACKING, TELEMETRY, COMMAND AND MONITORING
Tracking, Telemetry, Command and Monitoring (TTC&M) provide essential spacecraft management and
control functions to keep the satellite operating safely in orbit.
The TTC&M links between the spacecraft and the
ground are usually separated from the
communications system links. TTC&M links may
operate in the same frequency bands or different
frequency bands as the communications links.
Separate earth terminal facilities specifically design
for the complex operation required to maintain the
spacecraft in orbit are used. A single TTC&M facility
may maintain several spacecraft simultaneously in
orbit through TTC&M links to each vehicle. Figure
3.4 shows typical TTC&M facility elements.
TTC&M is divided into the satellite TTC&M
subsystem and the earth TTC&M subsystem.
The satellite TTC&M subsystem comprises the
antenna, command receiver, tracking and telemetry
transmitter, and possibly tracking sensors.
Telemetry data are received from the other
subsystems of the spacecraft, such as the payload,
power, attitude and thermal control.
Command data are relayed from the command receiver to the other subsystems to control such
parameters as antenna pointing, transponder modes of operation, battery and solar cell charges etc.
The ground TTC&M subsystem comprise the antenna, telemetry receiver, command transmitter, tracking
subsystem and associated processing and analysis functions
Satellite control and monitoring is accomplished through monitors and keyboard interface. Major
operations of TTC&M are automated, with minimal human interface required.


Tracking refers to the determination of the current orbital position and the movement of the spacecraft.
Telemetry involves the collection of data from sensors on-board the spacecraft and relay of this
information to the ground. Command is the complementary function of telemetry. The command
systems relay specific control and operations information from ground to the spacecraft, most often in
response to telemetry.
3.2 SATELLITE PAYLOAD
A communications satellite payload is made up of two subsystems: Transponder and Antenna
subsystems
3.2.1 TRANSPONDER
A transponder in a communications satellite is a series of interconnected components that provides a
communications channel from the output of the receive antenna to the input of the transmit antenna. A
typical communications satellite will contain more than one transponder and some of the equipment
may be common to more than one transponder.
Each transponder generally operate in a different frequency band, with the allocated frequency band
divided into slots (sub bands), with a specified center frequency and operating bandwidth. For example a
500MHz frequency band allocated for FSS can be divided among 12 transponders each of 36MHz
bandwidth, width 4MHz guard band between each. Typical commercial communications satellites can
have 24 to 48 transponders.
The number of transponders can be doubled by the use of polarization frequency reuse. We can also
spatial separation of the signal in the form of narrow spot beam, which allow the reuse of the same
carrier in spatially separated locations on earth.
Communications satellite transponders can be implemented in two general types; Frequency Translation
and On-Board Processing Transponder.
3.2.1.1 FREQUENCY TRANSLATION TRANSPONDER
It is the most frequently use of the two types. The Frequency Translation Transponder also referred to as
a Non-Regenerative or Bent Pipe, receives an uplink signal and after amplification, retransmits it with
only a translation in carrier frequency. Figure 3.5 shows a dual frequency translation transponder, where
the uplink radio frequency,
, is converted into an intermediate lower frequency,
, amplified and
then converted back up to the downlink
, for transmission to earth. Frequency translation

transponders are used for FSS, BSS, and MSS applications. The uplink and downlink are codependent
meaning any degradation introduced in the uplink will be transferred to the downlink, affecting the total
communications link performance.
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22

3.2.1.2 ON-BOARD PROCESSING TRANSPONDER
The On-Board processing transponder also called a Regenerative Repeater or Demo/Remod
transponder or Smart Satellite is shown in figure 3.6
The uplink signals at
is demodulated to baseband,
. The baseband signal is then available

for processing on-board, including reformatting and error correction. The baseband information is then
remodulated to the downlink carrier at
, possibly in a different modulation format to the uplink and

after final amplification is transmitted to the downlink. The Demodulation/Remodulation process
removes the uplink noise and interference from the downlink, while allowing additional on board
processing to be accomplished. Thus the uplink and downlink are independent with respect to the
evaluation of the overall link performance
This type of satellite turns to be more expensive than frequency translation satellites, but do offer
significant performance advantages.
Travelling wave tube amplifiers (TWTA) or Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) are used to provide final
output amplification for each transponder channel.


3.2.2 ANTENNAS
The antenna system is a critical part of the satellite communications system, because it is an essential
element in increasing the strength of the transmitted or received signal to allow amplification, processing
and eventual retransmission. The most important parameters that define the performance of an antenna
are; antenna gain, antenna beamwidth, and antenna side lobes.
The gain defines the increased in strength achieved in concentrating the radio wave energy. The
beamwidth usually express as 3-dB beamwidth or half power beamwidth is a measure of the angle over
which the maximum gain occurs. The sidelobe is defined as the amount of gain in the off-axis direction.
The common types of antennas used in satellite communications are: Linear dipole, horn antenna,
parabolic reflector and array antenna.
CHAPTER 4 NOISE
The figure 4.1 below shows the path taken by a signal from the transmitter to the receiver and the level
of noise present in the signal.
From the graph it can be seen that signal power and noise power are almost equal at the input of the
receive terminal. That is it is possible to confuse noise and carrier power.
It can also be seen that from the point the noise is injected into the signal, it follows the same path as the
signal and therefore goes through the same attenuation and gain stages
December 15,
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24

Noise can be introduced into a communication link at various points
At the transmit terminal
At the receive system of the satellite
In the satellite non-linear amplifier
At the transmit system of the satellite
At the receive terminal of the earth station.
4.1 TYPES OF NOISE
The following (figure4.2) are the major types of noise experienced in a satellite communication link
Thermal Noise
In the satellite receive system
In the receive system of the earth terminal
Interference
From the carriers in the same transponder
From carriers in other transponders in the same satellite
From other carriers in other satellites


Intermodulation Noise
In the High Power Amplifier(HPA) of the transmit terminal
In the satellite High Power Amplifier(HPA)
4.1.1 THERMAL NOISE
Every object in the universe generates thermal noise. Thermal noise is very weak, so it is important only
when the signal itself is very weak, that is at the input of the receive system of the satellite or the receive
system of the receive earth station.
Thermal noise is measured in terms of noise temperature T. The gain (G) to noise temperature (T) ratio
of a receive system, G/T is a key performance parameter of the receive system.
Thermal noise can be grouped into Uplink Thermal Noise (satellite receive system) and
Downlink Thermal Noise (Terminal Receive System)
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26

4.1.1A UPLINK THERMAL NOISE (SATELLITE RECEIVE SYSTEM)

It comes from the following sources:
From the electronic components of the satellite.
Space and other celestial bodies.
Earth
This is shown in figure 4.3


4.1.1B DOWNLINK THERMAL NOISE (TERMINAL RECEIVE SYSTEM)
It comes from the sun, cloud and rain, sky, moon and other celestial bodies, ground and terrestrial noise
sources. This is shown in figure 4.4 below

4.2 INTERFERENCE
Interference is the unwanted power contribution of other carriers in the frequency band occupied by the wanted
carrier. The three major types of interferences are
Adjacent Satellite Interference(ASI); Interference from a signal on an adjacent satellite
Co-channel Interference(CCI); Interference from a carrier in a co-channel transponder on the same satellite
Adjacent carrier Interference(ACI);Interference from an adjacent carrier in the same transponder
These are all shown in figure 4.5 below
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28

Adjacent Satellite Interference (ASI) is the most complex form of interference on a satellite link
There are two kinds
Uplink ASI
Downlink ASI



4.3 INTERMODULATION
Non-linear devices such as Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTA) Or Solid State Power Amplifiers
(SSPA) at the satellite transponders or any High Power Amplifier (HPA) at the transmit terminal will
generate intermodulation noise when multiple carriers pass through them. The nature of the
intermodulation noise depends on the carriers and the non-linear device.
A precise computation of intermodulation noise is vital in predicting the performance close to saturation,
for maximum output performance.
CHAPTER 5- IMPAIRMENTS
The atmosphere offers an RF window for satellite communications.
At low frequencies the ionosphere cannot be penetrated by radio waves and acts as a reflector
At high frequencies the atmospheric gases absorb and severely attenuate the radio waves

December 15,
2012

30

Propagation impairment at frequencies above 1GHz can be grouped into the following classes
Signal attenuation due to
o Atmospheric gases-primarily oxygen and water vapor
o Rain and snow
o Clouds
Signal polarization effects
o Depolarization due to rain
o Faradays rotation
Signal path effects related to refraction
o Tropospheric scintillation- variation in refractive index
5.1 SIGNAL ATTENUATION
Attenuation is the absorption and scattering of radio wave energy as it travels along the propagation medium.
Signal attenuation can be caused by Atmospheric gases, rain, snow and cloud.
5.1.1 RAIN ATTENUATION
Rain is a major weather effect which is of great concern particularly for earth-space communication in frequency
bands above 3GHz. It is particular significant for frequencies of operation above 10GHz.
Rain attenuation occurs because when the signal passes through rain drops, some of the signal energy get absorbed
and converted to heat, thus resulting in degradation of the reliability and performance of the link.
The amount of rain attenuation depends on:
The frequency (wavelength relative to the size of raindrops)
The rain intensity or rain rate(amount of
water in the path per unit distance)
The elevation angle(lower elevation
angle means signal has to travel a longer
path through the rain)
Figure 5.2 shows the rain attenuation measured
for the worst 1% of the year. Several general
characteristics can be derived from the figure;
rain attenuation increases with increasing
frequency and decreasing elevation angle. Rain
attenuation levels can be very high particularly
for frequencies above 30GHz.The plots are for


99% link availability which corresponds to 1% outage.
5.1.2 GASEOUS ATTENUATION
Gaseous attenuation is primarily due to signal absorption by oxygen and water vapor. Signal degradation
can be minor or severe depending on the frequency, temperature, pressure and water vapor
concentration
The absorption is high for frequencies that represent the resonant frequency of the elements that make
up the gases. Only oxygen and water vapor have absorbable resonant frequencies in the band of
interest. The figure 5.3 shows the total gaseous attenuation observed on a satellite path located in
Washington DC, for elevation angles from to . The stark effect of oxygen absorption lines around
60GHz is seen. Water vapor absorption lines around 22.3GHz is observed. As the elevation angle
decreases, the path length through the troposphere increases, and the resulting total attenuation
increases.

5.1.3 CLOUD ATTENUATION
Cloud attenuation behaves similarly to rain attenuation but it is generally a small effect. The figure 5.4
shows the total cloud attenuation as a function of frequency, for elevation angles from . The
cloud attenuation is seen to increase with frequency and decrease elevation angle.

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5.1.4 SNOW AND ICE ATTENUATION
The effects of snow and ice are generally included in rain impairments. Snow and ice generally attenuate
the signal to a small extent compared to rain.

5.2 SIGNAL PATH EFFECT RELATED TO REFRACTION
The main signal path effect related to refraction is scintillation. The scintillation effects occur at the
ionosphere and at the troposphere. The ionospheric scintillation mostly affects frequencies
around30MHz to 300MHz. Therefore are main concern will be tropospheric scintillation
5.2.1 TROPOSPHERIC SCINTILLATION
Tropospheric scintillation describes a rapid fluctuation in the received signal level as a result of variation
in the refractive index of the atmosphere. It is generally negligible at frequencies below 10GHz and at
high elevation angles but it becomes a significant problem for frequencies below 10GHz and low
elevation angles.
There are generally two kinds: Amplitude and Phase Scintillations



5.2.2 SIGNAL POLARIZATION EFFECTS
5.2.2.1 POLARIZATION
The wave radiated by an antenna consists of electric field component and a magnetic field component.
These two components are orthogonal and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave.
Polarization is the directional aspects of the electrical field of a radio signal. Two common types in
satellite communications are Linear Polarization and Circular Polarization.
Linear Polarization: The electric field is wholly in one plane containing the direction of propagation.
There are two types; Horizontal and Vertical Polarization.
Horizontal Polarization: The electric field lies in a plane parallel to the earths surface
Vertical Polarization: The electric field lies in a plane perpendicular to the earths surface.
Circular Polarization: The electric field radiates energy in both the horizontal and vertical planes and all
planes in between.
Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) The electric field is rotating in the clockwise direction as seen by
an observer towards whom the wave is moving

Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) The electric field is rotating in the counterclockwise direction as
seen by an observer towards whom the wave is moving.
5.2.2.2 RAIN DEPOLARIZATION
It refers to the change in the polarization characteristics of a radio wave. A depolarized radio wave will
have its polarization state altered such that power is transferred from the desired polarization state to an
undesired polarization channel.
Rain depolarization can be a problem in the frequency bands above about 12GHz, particularly for
frequency reuse systems communications links the same frequency bands to increase channel capacity.

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34

5.2.2.3 FARADAYS ROTATION
Faraday rotation is an ionospheric effect.
-The ionosphere is a charged layer of the atmosphere.
- When the electromagnetic RF signal passes through the ionosphere, the electric field rotates the polarization
plane of the signal.
- Therefore, the plane of polarization of linearly polarized signals (H / V) twists.
- Faraday rotation has no effect on circular polarization.
- Faraday rotation is dependent on the charged state of the atmosphere, which is dependent on solar activity.
- Sun-spot activity can increase Faraday rotation.
- This polarization rotation causes signal depolarization and increased cross-pol interference.



The figure 6.1 above shows the basic communications elements in the transmitting and receiving earth
stations. It also indicates measures of performance at various points of the link.
CHAPTER 6: MODULATION AND CODING
6.1 TYPES OF MODULATION
In digital communications, we have three types of modulations: Amplitude, Frequency and Phase
Modulations.
Amplitude Shift keying(ASK): The bit information is carried in the amplitude of the signal
Frequency Shift Keying(FSK): The bit information is carried in the frequency of the signal
Phase Shift Keying(PSK):The bit information is carried in the phase of the signal
In satellite communications Phase Shift Keying is most frequently used because it has the advantage of a
constant envelope as compared to frequency shift keying(FSK), it provides better spectral
efficiency(number of bits transmitted per radio frequency bandwidth)
The figure 6.2 below shows the principle of a modulator. It consists of;
A symbol generator
An encoder or mapper
A signal generator
The symbol generator generates symbols with M states, where M=2
m
, from m consecutive bits of
the input bit stream.
The encoder establishes a correspondence between M states of these symbols and M possible
states of the transmitted carrier

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36

6.1.1 TYPES OF PHASE SHIFT KEYING MODULATION AND BANDWIDTH EFFICIENCY
Depending on the number m, of bits per symbol, different M-ary Phase Shift Keying modulation can be
considered.
Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK): If a single bit is used to defined a symbol, a basic two state modulation
(M=2) is defined called BPSK
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK): if two consecutive bits are grouped to define a symbol, a four
state modulation (M=4) is defined called QPSK
8-Phase Shift Keying (8PSK): If three consecutive bits are grouped to define a symbol, an eight state
modulation (M=8) is defined called 8-PSK, as shown in figure 6.3 below.
Higher Order Modulation (M=16, 32): This can be obtain for m=4, 5 etc. bits per symbol. As the order of
the modulation increases, the spectral (bandwidth) efficiency increases with increase in the number of
bits per symbol. That is: BPSK uses one bit per symbol
QPSK two bits per symbol- use half the bandwidth
8-PSK three bits per symbol- use one third of the bandwidth
With a modulation of higher order M , better performance is achieved by considering hybrid
amplitude and phase shift keying (APSK), also called Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). The
state of the carrier corresponds to given values of carrier phase and carrier amplitude (2 for 16APSK, 3
for 32APSK)
16-QAM for example takes four bit per symbol and uses one fourth of the bandwidth.
As we move from 8-PSK to 16-APSK, 32APSK, the
drawback is that the signal is also affected by the non-
linear components like the amplifiers at the earth
station transmitter and at the satellite.



6.1.2 POWER EFFICIENCY OF THE VARIOUS SCHEMES
The error performance of various modulation schemes can be compared as follows:
The square of the distance from the origin is the power corresponding to each symbol. Using
this, the average power per bit (P) for the modulation scheme can be computed.
The square of half the distance between two closest symbols is the minimum noise power (E)
required to cause an error. It is a measure of the error tolerance of the modulation scheme.
If two schemes have the same E, the one requiring the lower P is more power efficient.

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38

6.1.3 POWER REQUIREMENT OF VARIOUS SCHEMES-E
B
/N
O
VS BER
The power required to achieve a certain bit error rate (BER) is often expressed as a relationship between
the E
b
/N
o
and BER. Bit error rate is a measure of the performance of a digital communications system at
the output of a demodulator. Figure 6.4 shows the power requirement of various modulation schemes.



6.2 CHANNEL ENCODING
The figure6.5 below illustrates the
principle of channel encoding.
It has the objective of adding to the
information bit, redundant bits, which
are used at the receiver to detect and
correct errors.
This technique is called Forward Error
Correction (FEC). The code rate is
defined as , where r is
the number of redundant bits added to
n information bits. The bit rate at the
encoder input is
, at the output, it is
greater and equal to
. Hence,
(bit/s)
6.2.1 BLOCK ENCODING AND CONVOLUTIONAL ENCODING
6.2.1.1 BLOCK ENCODING
The encoder associates bits of redundancy with each block of information bits; each block is coded
independent of the others. The code bits are generated by a linear combination of the corresponding
block
Some of the most commonly used block codes are:
Hamming codes; which can correct a single error
Reed-Solomon codes; which can correct multiple errors.
An reed-Solomon code can correct
errors. Here [x] represents the largest integer

less than or equal to x. For example a (219,201) RS encodes blocks of 201 bits onto code words of
length 219 bits. This can correct 9 simultaneous bits errors in the 219 bits code word.
Bose, Chaudhari and Hocquenghem (BCH) codes

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40

6.2.1.2 CONVOLUTION ENCODING
A convolutional code process a stream of data. For every K bits it take in, it generates n bits at the
output. The choice between block codes and convolutional encoding is dictated by the types of errors
that are expected at the output of the demodulator. The distribution of errors depends on the nature of
the noise and the propagation impairments encountered on the satellite link.
Under stable propagation conditions and Gaussian noise, errors occur randomly and convolutional
encoding is mostly used. Under fading conditions, errors occur mostly in bursts, compared with
convolutional encoding; block encoding is less sensitive to bursts of errors, so block encoding is
preferred.
6.2.2 CONCATENATED ENCODING
The concatenated coding wraps a convolutional code inside a Reed-Solomon code, with an interleaver.
The convolutional code corrects must of the channel errors. When a convolutional code causes errors,
the errors are in bursts. The interleaver spreads the bursts of errors over multiple Reed-Solomon code
words. The Reed-Solomon code then corrects the remaining errors.
Concatenated coding provides very significant improvement in performance over either types of coding alone.
INPUT

OUTPUT

Overall code rate =

6.2.3 TURBO CODES
There are a complete replacement for convolutional and Reed-Solomon codes
6.2.4 LOW DENSITY PARITY CHECK CODES (LDPC)
LDPC codes have been found to offer better performance than Turbo codes
RS Encoder Interleaver
Convolutional
Encoder
Channel
Convolutional
decoder
De-interleaver
RS Decoder


LDPC block codes (just like RS block codes) are often used as part of a concatenated coding schemes e.g.
the DVB-S2 standard uses LDPC inner codes and BCH outer codes. This concatenated coding yields better
performance.
6.3 CHANNEL DECODING
With FEC, the decoder uses the redundancy
introduced at the encoder to detect and correct
errors. Various possibilities are available for
decoding block codes and convolutional encoding.
Convolutional codes are mostly decoded with the
use of VITERBI decoding algorithm, for best
performance. The figure 6.6 shows the
performance of a modulation and coding scheme
The Bit error probability (BEP) is express as a
function of E
b
/N
0
, where E
b
is the energy per
information bit. And E
b
=C/R
b
, where C is the carrier
energy present after demodulation and R
b
is the bit
rate.
Therefore

The Decoding gain is defined as the difference in
decibel (dB) at a considered value of BEP or BER
between the required value of E
b
/N
0
with and
without coding, assuming equal information rate
R
b
.
Table 6.1 below shows typical values of coding
gain.

Bit error rate (BER): It is used to measure the
performance of a digital communications system
at the output of the demodulator. It is a very
important performance parameter.
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42

6.4 POWER-BANDWIDTH TRADEOFF
Coding allows bandwidth to be exchanged for power (that is it permits us to use more bandwidth put less power).
As a result of this link performance can be optimize in terms of cost (cost of earth station)
6.4.1 CODING WITH VARIABLE BANDWIDTH
When Coding is used, bandwidth is increased, and less power is required to attain the same performance
requirements. This reduction in power noted
is equal to the decoding gain.

The reduction in the required
, which translates to an equal reduction in the required carrier power, is paid

for by an increase in the required bandwidth used on the satellite link.
6.4.2 CODING WITH CONSTANT BANDWIDTH
It is performed when a given bandwidth is allocated to a given satellite link. Coding is introduced without changing
the carrier bandwidth B, and therefore at a constant transmitted rate R
c
. Therefore R
b
must be reduced. If the
bandwidth is constant, the reduction in
is higher, as a result in reduction in the information rate. This
reduction can be used to combat temporary link degradation due to rain, at the expense of temporary
capacity reduction on the considered link.



CHAPTER 7 SATELLITE LINK BUDGET
A satellite link budget is like a financial budget in which:
Signal power = Credit/Income
Noise power = Debit/Expense
A link budget is the basic tool of the satellite engineer. It is used to predict the performance of a satellite
link at the receive terminal by;
Computing the power gain/loses along the satellite link
Computing the impact of various impairments along the satellite link
The main goal of a link budget is to determine;
The Forward link budget : Given the power at the transmit terminal, predict the link performance
at the receive terminal
Reversed Link Budget: Determine the power at the transmit terminal required to achieve a
desired link performance at the receive terminal.
This section begins with the configuration of a satellite link. The Links referred to here are:
Uplink from a transmit earth station to the satellite
Downlink from a satellite to a receive terminal earth station
End-to-End link from a transmit earth station through the satellite to a receive earth station.
Next, the performance of each individual link will be analyzed and concluded with an overall (end-to-
end) link of a transparent satellite.
7.1 CONFIGURATION OF A LINK

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44

The figure 7.1 represents the elements participating in a link. The transmit equipment consist of a
transmitter T
x
, connected by a feeder to the transmit antenna of gain G
T
in the direction of the receiver.
Power radiated by the transmit equipment in the direction of the receive equipment is P
T

The performance of the transmit equipment is measured by its effective isotropic radiated power
(EIRP), defined as
EIRP =

(7.1)
On its way the radiated power suffers from path loss L.
The receiving equipment consists of a receiving antenna of gain G
R
in the direction of the transmit
equipment. The antenna is connected by a feeder to the receiver R
x
. At the receiver input, the power of
the modulated carrier is C and all sources of noise in the link contribute to the system noise temperature
T.
The system noise temperature T conditions the noise power spectral density N
0
, which is used to
determine the performance of the RF link at the input of the receiver

The performance of the receiving equipment is measured by its figure of merit,
, where G represents
the overall receiving equipment gain
The following section presents definitions of the relevant parameters that condition link performance
and provide useful equations that help in calculating

.
7.2 ANTENNA PARAMETERS
7.2.1 ANTENNA GAINS
The gain of an antenna is the power radiated (or received) per unit solid angle by an antenna in a given
direction to the power radiated (or received) per unit solid angle by an Isotropic antenna fed with the
same power. The gain of the antenna is maximum, in the direction of maximum radiation (boresight) and
has a value given by;
)
Where
and is the velocity of light
and frequency of the electromagnetic

wave, for an antenna with a circular aperture, or reflector of diameter D. The surface area
, but
, where is the antenna efficiency. Therefore



Expressed in dBi (the gain relative to an isotropic antenna), the actual maximum antenna gain is;
) ( (
)
The efficiency of the antenna is the product of several factors which take account of the spill-over loss,
surface impairments, ohmic and impedance mismatch losses.
7.2.2 RADIATION PATTERN AND ANGULAR BEAMWIDTH
The radiation pattern indicates the variation of gain with direction. Figure 7.2a and 7.2b show the
radiation pattern for a circular antenna in polar (7.2a) and Cartesian (7.2b) coordinates. The main lobe
contains the direction of maximum radiation.
The side lobes should be kept to a minimum.
The Angular beamwidth is the angle defined
by the directions corresponding to a given
gain fallout with respect to the maximum
gain. The 3dB beamwidth, indicated by
,
in figure 7.2a is often used.
The 3dB beamwidth corresponds to the
angle in the directions in which the gain falls
to half the maximum value. It is related to
the ratio
by a coefficient. The coefficient

commonly used is , which leads to the
expression;
) (
)
In the direction with respect to the boresight, the value of gain is given by
and is valid only when

Combining equation (7.3) and (7.5), we can obtain the maximum gain of an antenna as a function of
beamwidth

If =0.6 is considered, it gives
, where
is in degrees.

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46

Figure 7.3 shows the relationship between 3dB beamwidth and maximum gain for three most common values of
antenna efficiency.
From figure 7.3 it can be seen that as the 3dB beamwidth increases, the antenna gain drops for each of the three
efficiency values. The higher the efficiency, the higher the antennae gain.

7.2.3 POLARIZATION
The wave radiated by an antenna consists of an electric field component and a magnetic field component. These
two components are orthogonal and perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave, as shown in figure
7.4 below. They both vary at the frequency of the wave. By convention, the polarization of a wave is defined by the
direction of the electric field component. This electric field component is not fixed in direction.
Polarization is characterized by;
Direction of rotation(with respect to direction of propagation); right- hand (clockwise) or left-
hand(counter clockwise)
Axial ratio(AR);
, ratio of the major and minor axes of the ellipse. When the ellipse is a circle
(axial ratio=1=0dB), polarization is said to be circular. When the ellipse reduce to one axis( infinite axial
ratio, the electric field maintains a fixed direction), polarization is said to be linear.
Inclination, of the ellipse


Two waves are in orthogonal polarization if their electric field defines identical ellipses in opposite direction. In
particular we can have;
Two orthogonal circular polarization described as right-hand circular(RHCP) and left-hand circular(LHCP)
polarizations
Two orthogonal linear polarization described as horizontal and vertical polarizations
Polarization enables an increase in capacity through frequency reuse. This must take into account the imperfection
of the antenna and possible depolarization of wave by transmission medium, which can lead to mutual
interference.

Consider figure 7.5 below with two orthogonal lineally polarized waves. Amplitude of the wave A, transmitted
with vertical polarization a
c

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48

amplitude of wave B, transmitted with horizontal linear polarization b
c

=energy of signal B, found in A due to depolarization
=energy of signal A, found in B due to depolarization

The following can be defined
The Cross- Polarization Isolation:

) Or (
)
The Cross-Polarization Discrimination
)(when a single polarization is

transmitted)

7.3 RADIATED POWER
7.3.1 EFFECTIVE ISOTROPIC RADIATED POWER (EIRP)
It is the parameter that characterizes the performance of a transmit equipment and it is given by

To obtain EIRP, we consider the power radiated by an isotropic antenna fed from a radio-frequency source of
power P
T
, given by

In a direction where the value of the transmitted gain is
, any antenna radiates a power per unit solid angle

given by
, the product
is called the EIRP

7.3.2 POWER FLUX DENSITY
A surface area A situated at a distance R from the transmitting antenna, subtends a solid angle A/R
2
at the
transmitting antenna as shown in figure 7.6. It receives a power equal to
) (
)

The magnitude
is called the power flux density expressed in



7.4 RECEIVED SIGNAL POWER
7.4.1 POWER CAPTURED BY THE RECEIVING ANTENNA AND FREE SPACE PATH LOSS
As shown in figure 7.7, a receiving antenna of effective aperture area
located at a distance R from the

transmitting antenna receives power equal to;

The effective area of an antenna is expressed as a function of its receiving gain
according to equation (7.2)

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50

Hence an expression for the received power
) (
))

)

Where
is called the free space loss and it is usually of the order of 200dB for an earth station situated
at an altitude of about 35786Km. It is loss linked to the distance that exists between the transmitting equipment
and the receiving equipment. It is not linked to any attenuation.
7.5 ADDITIONAL LOSSES
In practice, it is necessary to take into account additional losses due to various causes
Attenuation of the wave as they propagate through the atmosphere
Losses in transmitting and receiving equipment
Depointing losses
Polarization mismatch losses



7.5.1 ATTENUATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE
The attenuation of waves in the atmosphere, denoted by
, is due to the presence of gaseous components in the

troposphere, water (rain, clouds, snow and ice) and ionosphere. The overall effect on the power of the received
carrier can be taken into account by replacing
in equation (7.9) by the Path Loss, L, where

7.5.2 LOSSES IN THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING EQUIPMENT
Figure (7.8) shows the losses in the terminal equipment. We have the following;
-The feeder loss
between the transmitter and the antenna; to feed the antenna with power P
T
it is necessary to
provide a power
at the output of the transmission amplifier such that;

Expressing the EIRP as a function of the power at the output of the transmission amplifier, we have;

-the feeder loss
between the antenna and the receiver; has an impact on the power at the input of the
receiver,
, such that it will be equal to

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52

7.5.3 DEPOINTING LOSSES
Figure 7.9 shows the geometry of the link in case of imperfect alignment between the transmitting and
the receiving antennas. The result is fallout in antenna gain with respect to the maximum gain in
transmission and in reception, called Depointing Loss. These Depointing losses are a function of a
misalignment of angle of transmission
and reception
. They are evaluated using equation (7.6);

7.5.4 LOSSES DUE TO POLARIZATION MISMATCH
When the receiving antenna is not oriented with the polarization of the received wave, a polarization
mismatch
occurs. In a link with circular polarization the transmitted wave is circularly polarized only
on the axis of the antenna and becomes elliptical off this axis. Propagation through the atmosphere can
also change circular into elliptical polarization.
In linear polarization, the wave can be subject to rotation of its plane of polarization as it propagates
through the atmosphere. Finally with linear polarization, the receiving antenna may not have its plane of
polarization aligned with that of the incident wave. If is the angle between the two planes, the
polarization mismatch loss
(in dB) is . In a case where a circularly polarized

antenna receives a linearly polarized wave,
will have a value of 3dB. Considering all sources of loss,

the signal power at the receiver input will be;


) (
) (
)
7.5.5 CONCLUSION
Equations (7.9) and (7.14), which express the received power at the input to the receiver, are of the
same form; they are a product of three factors;
-EIRP, which characterizes the transmitting equipment

It takes into account loss,
between the transmit amplifier and the antenna. Reduction in gain L

T
due
to misalignment of the transmit antenna
-1/L, which characterizes the transmission medium

The path loss takes in to account free space attenuation and atmospheric attenuation
-The gain of the receiver, which characterizes the receiving equipment;

And takes into account losses,
between the antenna and the receiver, L

R
due to misalignment of
receiver antenna and,
,due to polarization mismatch.

7.6 NOISE POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY AT THE RECEIVER INPUT
7.6.1 ORIGIN OF NOISE
Noise consists of all unwanted contributions whose power adds to the wanted carrier power. It reduces the ability
of the receiver to reproduce correctly the information content of the received wanted carrier.
As seen in chapter 4, noise can originate from;
Thermal source(noise emitted by natural sources of radiation situated around the receiver antenna and
noise generated by components of the receiving equipment)
Interfering sources from neighboring systems
7.6.2 NOISE CHARACTERIZATION
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54

The equivalent noise power captured by a receiver with equivalent
noise bandwidth
, is given by

Where N
0
is the noise power spectral density

7.6.3 NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A NOISE SOURCE
The noise temperature of a noise source of noise power spectral
density N
0
is given by

Where k the Boltzmanns constant = 1.379x10
-23
= -228.6dBW/HzK

7.6.4 NOISE FIGURE
If the reference temperature at the input of an element is T
0
=290K, also if the element has a gain G, a bandwidth B
and is driven by a source of noise temperature T
0
. The total power at the output is
. The noise power

originating from the source is
. The noise figure is thus

The noise figure is usually quoted in decibel (dB): (
)
7.6.5 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF AN ATTENUATOR
An attenuator has passive components, all at temperature
which is generally the ambient temperature. If

is the attenuation caused by the attenuator, then the effective input noise temperature of the attenuator is;

7.6.6 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF CASCADED ELEMENTS
Consider a chain of N elements in cascade, each element j having a power gain
and effective
input noise temperature
the overall effective input noise temperature is



The noise figure will be

7.6.7 EFFECTIVE INPUT NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A RECEIVER
Figure (7.10) shows the arrangement of a receiver. By using equation (7.19), the effective input noise temperature
of the receiver can be express as

Example for a low noise amplifier (LNA);

Mixer;

IF amplifier;
=30dB
Hence;

It can be seen that the high gain of the LNA limits the noise temperature
of the receiver to that of the LNA,

7.6.8 ANTENNA NOISE TEMPERATURE
An antenna picks up noise from radiating bodies within the radiation pattern of the antenna. The Noise
output from an antenna is a function of the direction in which the antenna is pointed, its radiation
pattern and the state of the surrounding environment
In this case the antenna is assumed to be a noise source characterized by a noise temperature called the
noise temperature of the antenna
. Two cases are considered

A satellite antenna (uplink)
An earth station antenna (downlink)

7.6.8 NOISE TEMPERATURE OF A SATELLITE ANTENNA
As seen in chapter 4, noise is captured by this antenna from the earth and from outer space. The earth is
a major contributor. For a beamwidth of 17.5, the antenna noise temperature depends on the
frequency and orbital position of the satellite. For a smaller beamwidth (spot beam), it depends on the
December 15,
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56

frequency and the area covered. For a preliminary design, the value 290K can be taken as a conservative
value.
7.6.9 NOISE TEMPERATURE OF AN EARTH STATION ANTENNA (DOWNLINK)
It comes from the sky and noise due to radiation from the earth. This is shown in figure (7.11a) and
(7.11b), for clear sky and rain attenuation conditions
In clear sky

In the presence of rain

7.7 SYSTEM NOISE TEMPERATURE
Consider the receiving equipment shown in figure (7.12) below. It consists of an antenna connected to a receiver.
The connection (feeder) is a lossy one and at a thermodynamic temperature T
F
(which is close to T
0
=290K). It
introduces an attenuation
, which corresponds to a gain
and is less than 1.

The effective input noise temperature
of the receiver is
.
The noise temperature may be determine at two points as follows
At the antenna output before the feeder losses, temperature T
1
;
At the receiver input, after the feeder losses, temperature T
2

The noise temperature T
1
at the antenna output is the sum of the noise temperature of the antenna
and the
noise temperature of the subsystem, consisting of the feeder and receiver in cascade. The noise temperature of the
feeder is given by equation (7.18). From equation (7.21), the noise temperature of the sub system is
, adding the contribution of the antenna, this

becomes

Now consider the receiver input. This noise factor must
be attenuated by a factor
. Replacing
by
,
the noise temperature T
s
at the input of the receiver will
be;

The noise temperature T
2
which takes into account the
noise generated by the antenna and the feeder together


with the receiver noise, is called system noise temperature T at the receiver input.
System Noise Temperature Example
Consider the receiving system of figure (7.21) with the following values.
-Attenuation noise temperature
; thermodynamic temperature of the feeder
;
effective input noise temperature of the receiver

The system noise temperature at the receiver input will be calculated for two cases: (1) no feeder loss
between the antenna and the receiver and (2) feeder loss
. Using equation (7.25)

Case (1): T=50K+290(1-1)K+50K = 100K
Case (2): T=
=149.3K or around 150K.

Notice the influence of the feeder loss; it reduces the antenna noise but makes its own contribution to
the noise and this finally causes an increase in system noise temperature.
The contribution of attenuation to noise can quickly be estimated using the following rule: every an
attenuation of 0.1dB upstream of a receiver makes a contribution to the system noise temperature of
(
)=6.6K or around 7K. To realize a receiving system with low noise temperature, it is
imperative to avoid losses upstream of the receiver.
7.7.1 CONCLUSION
At the receiver input, all sources of noise in the link contribute to the system noise temperature T. These sources
include noise captured by the antenna and generated by the feeder, which can actually be measured at the receiver
input, plus the noise generated downstream in the receiver, which is modeled as a fictitious source of noise at the
receiver input, treating the receiver as noiseless.
The noise superimposed on the received carrier power has a power spectral density given by
, where k
is the Boltzmann constant (k=1.379x10
-2
J/K = -228.6dBJ/K)
7.8 INDIVIDUAL LINK PERFORMANCE
The link performance is evaluated as a ratio of the received carrier power C, to the noise power spectral density, N
0

and is quoted as the
ratio, expressed in hertz. One can evaluate the link performance using other ratios
besides

, for instance
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58

represents the carrier power over the system noise temperature expressed in units of watts
per kelvin (W/K), it is given by

, where k is the Boltzmann constant

represents carrier power over the noise power; it is dimensionless and is given by
, where
is the noise bandwidth

7.8.1 CARRIER TO NOI SE POWER SPECTRAL DENSI TY RATIO AT THE RECEIVER INPUT
The power received at the receiver input, as given by equation (7.14), is that of the carrier. Hence

The noise power spectral density at the same point is
, where T is given by equation (7.25)

Hence
[(
) (
) (
)] [(
)]
This expression can be interpreted as follows:

) (

) (
Can also be express as a function of the power flux density ;
) (

) (
)
Where

Finally it can be verified that the evaluation of
is independent of the point chosen in the receiving chain as

long as the carrier power and noise power spectral are calculated at the same point.
Equation (7.27) for C/N
0
introduces three factors;
EIRP, which characterizes the transmitting equipment
1/L, which characterizes the transmission medium
The composite receiving gain/noise temperature, which characterizes the receiving equipment. It is called
the figure of merit, or G/T, of the receiving equipment.

By examining equation (7.26), it can be seen that the figure of merit G/T of the receiving equipment is a
function of the antenna noise temperature
and the effective input noise temperature
of the
receiver. These magnitudes will now be quantified.
In conclusion, equation (7.26) boils down to;
)(
)(
)


7.8.2 CLEAR SKY CONDITION
Figure (7.13) shows the geometry of the link. It is assumed that the transmitting earth station is on the edge of the
3dB beamwidth coverage of the satellite receiving antenna.
The data used are given below;
Frequency;
=14GHz
For the earth station(ES);
o Transmitting amplifier power;

o Loss between the amplifier and antenna;

o Antenna diameter; D=4m
o Antenna efficiency;
o Maximum pointing error;

Earth station satellite distance; R= 40,000Km
Atmospheric attenuation;
(typical value at this frequency for elevation angle 10)

For the satellite(SL)
o Receiving beam half power angular width;

o Receiver noise figure; F=3dB
o Loss between antenna and receiver;

o Thermodynamic temperature of the connection;

o Antenna noise temperature;

To calculate the EIRP of the earth station;

With
=100W=20dBW,

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60

Hence

To calculate the upward path loss (U);

With
, Hence

To calculate the figure of merit G/T of the satellite (SL);
(
)
[

With
, Since the earth station is at the edge of the 3dB coverage area,

Assume
, Given

Hence (
) ]

Notice that when the thermodynamic temperature of the feeder between the antenna and the satellite receiver is
close to the antenna noise temperature, which is the case in practice, the uplink system noise temperature at the
receiver input is
. It is therefore needlessly costly to install a receiver with a low

noise figure on board a satellite
To calculate the ratio
for the uplink;

(
) (
)
Hence: 71.7dBW 207.7dB + 6.6dBK
-1
+ 228.6dBJ/K =99.2dBHz.
Figure (7.14) shows the path of the signal in uplink and the power at various points


7.8.2.1 CLEAR SKY DOWNLINK PERFORMANCE
Figure (7.15a) shows the geometry of the downlink. It is assumed that the receiving earth station is located on the
edge of the 3dB coverage area of the satellite receiving antenna. The data are as follows;
Frequency,

For the satellite (SL)
o Transmitting amplifier power;

o Loss between amplifier and antenna;

o Transmitting beam half power angular width;

o Earth station- satellite distance; R=40,000Km
o Atmospheric attenuation ;
(typical attenuation at this frequency for an elevation of

10)
For the earth station(ES);
o Receiver noise figure; F=1dB
o Loss between antenna and receiver;

o Thermodynamic temperature of the feeder;

o Antenna diameter; D=4m
December 15,
2012

62

o Maximum pointing error;

o Ground noise temperature;

To calculate the EIRP of the satellite

With
, since the station is at the edge,

Hence;

To calculate the downlink path loss (D);

With

Hence;

To calculate the figure of merit G/T of the earth station in the satellite direction;
(
is the downlink system noise temperature at the input given by
]
And
, with
and
, for which

Hence
)
(

To calculate the (
) (
)
Hence (

Figure 7.15b shows the clear sky downlink power variation


7.9 LINK PERFORMANCE UNDER RAIN CONDITIONS
7.9.1 UPLINK PERFORMANCE
In the presence of rain, propagation attenuation is greater due to the attenuation
caused by rain in
the atmosphere. This is in addition to the attenuation due to gases in the atmosphere (0.3dB). A typical
value of attenuation due to rain for an earth station situated in the temperate climate (for example
Europe) can be considered to be
Such an attenuation would not be exceeded, at a

frequency of 14GHz, for more than 0.01% of an average year. This gives

Hence

Referring to the example of section 7.8.2, the uplink performance under rain conditions becomes
(

The ratio (
for the uplink would be greater than the value calculated this way for 99.99% of an average year.

December 15,
2012

64

7.9.2 DOWNLINK PERFORMANCE
Referring now to the example of section 7.8.2.1,
is taken as a typical value of the

attenuation due to rain for an earth station in the temperate climate (for example in Europe), which will
not be exceeded at a typical frequency of 12GHz, for more than 0.01% of an average year. Thus
.
Hence,
. The antenna noise temperature is given by

Taking
)
Hence (
,
To calculate the ratio (
) (
)
Hence (
= 84.7dBHz
The (
ratio for the downlink would be greater than the value calculated in this way for 99.99% of an average
year.
7.9.3 CONCLUSION
The quality of a link between a transmitter and a receiver can be characterized by the ratio of the carrier
power to the noise power spectral density
. This is a function of the transmitter EIRP, the receiver

figure of merit G/T and the properties of the transmission medium. In a satellite link between two
stations, two links must be considered- the uplink, characterized by the ratio(
, and the downlink,

characterize by the ratio(
.
The propagation conditions in the atmosphere affect the uplink and the downlink differently; rain
reduces the value of the ratio (
by decreasing the received power
, while it reduces the value

of (
, by reducing the value of the received power
and increases the downlink system noise

temperature. Denoting the resulting degradation by (
) gives
(



(

7.10 OVERALL LINK PERFORMANCE WITH A TRANSPARENT SATELLITE
In this section the station-to-station link performance, that is, a link involving one uplink and one
downlink via a transparent satellite will be discussed. So far the noise on the uplink and downlink has
been considered to be thermal noise only
In practice one has to account for interference noise originating from other carriers in the considered
frequency band and intermodulation noise resulting from multi-carrier operation of non-linear
amplifiers.
First overall link performance without interference or intermodulation will be discussed, followed by
overall link performance considering interference and finally intermodulation.
The following notations are used;
(
is the uplink carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the satellite receiver
input, considering no other noise contributions than the uplink system thermal noise temperature
.
(
is the downlink carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio(Hz) at the input of the earth
station receiver, considering no other noise contributions than the downlink system thermal noise
temperature
.
(
Carrier power to interference noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the input of the
considered receiver.
(
Carrier power to intermodulation noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the output of the
considered non-linear amplifier.
(
Overall carrier power to noise power spectral density ratio (Hz) at the earth station receiver
input.
7.10.1 CHARACTERISTI CS OF THE SATELLITE CHANNEL
Figure (7.16) shows a transparent payload, the overall bandwidth is split into several sub bands,
amplified by a dedicated power amplifier. The amplifying chain associated with each sub-band is called a
satellite channel, or transponder. The satellite channel amplifies one or several carriers. Here are some
notations;

carrier power at the satellite receiver input, at saturation it is denoted
is the power at the input of the satellite channel amplifier (i=input, n=number of carriers)

power at the output of the satellite channel amplifier ( o=output, n=number of carriers)
single carrier operation of a satellite channel amplifier
December 15,
2012

66

power at the input to the satellite channel amplifier at saturation in single carrier
operation

power at the output of the satellite channel amplifier at saturation in single carrier
operation mode
Saturation refers to the operation of a satellite channel amplifier to produce maximum output
power in single carrier operation mode. The Operator provides characteristics values of a
satellite channel in terms of flux density at saturation,
, and EIRP at saturation,
.

7.10.2 SATELLITE POWER FLUX DENSITY AT SATURATION
The power flux density is provided by the transmit station and considered at the satellite receive
antenna. The nominal value of power flux density to drive the satellite channel amplifier at saturation is
given by
)


is the front end gain from the input of the satellite receiver to the input of the satellite channel
amplifier;
is the loss from the output of the satellite receive antenna to the input of the satellite
receiver and
is the satellite receive antenna maximum gain.

The formula assumes that the transmit station is located at the center of the satellite receive coverage.
In practice, the flux density to be provided from a given earth station to drive the satellite channel
amplifier to saturation depends on the location of the transmit earth station within the satellite coverage
and the polarization mismatch of the satellite receiving antenna with respect to the uplink carrier
polarization. If the receive satellite antenna gain in the direction of the transmit earth station
experiences a gain fallout
, from the maximum gain and polarization mismatch of
, then the
actual flux density is

7.10.3 SATELLITE EIRP AT SATURATION
The satellite EIRP at saturation and at boresight,
relates to the satellite channel amplifier output power

at saturation,
and is given by

Where
is the loss from the output of the power amplifier to the transmit antenna and
is the transmit
antenna maximum gain
In practice, the
, which conditions the available carrier power at a given earth station receiver input is
reduced by the transmit antenna gain fallout
, when the earth station is not located at the center of the satellite
transmit antenna coverage.

7.10.4 SATELLITE REPEATER GAIN
The satellite repeater gain,
, is the gain from the satellite repeater input to the satellite channel amplifier
output. At saturation it is called

Where
is the satellite channel amplifier gain and
is the gain from the receiver input to the satellite channel

amplifier input.

December 15,
2012

68

7.10.5 INPUT AND OUTPUT BACK-OFF
In practice, the satellite channel amplifier is not always operated at saturation and it is convenient to determine the
operating point Q of the satellite channel amplifier. The point Q is determined by the input power
and the
output power
. It is also convenient to normalize these quantities with respect to
and

respectively. Below are definitions of input back-off and output back-off.

We will leave out the subscript Q for the operating power from now.

7.10.6 CARRIER POWER AT THE SATELLITE RECEIVER INPUT
The carrier power at the satellite receiver input required to drive the satellite channel amplifier to operate at the
considered operating point Q is given by

Expressing carrier in terms of satellite channel amplifier output power gives

With
being the satellite channel amplifier gain at saturation,
can be expressed as

Where
, is the carrier power at the satellite receiver input to drive the satellite
channel amplifier at saturation.
Can also be expressed as a function of

Note that input back-off can also be expressed as a ratio of the power flux density required to operate the
satellite channel amplifier at the considered operation point to the power flux density at saturation



7.10.7 EXPRESSION FOR (
WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER SYSTEMS OR

INTERMODULATION
The power of the carrier received at the input of the earth station receiver is
. The noise at the input of the earth

station receiver correspond to the sum of the following
The downlink system thermal noise considered in isolation (
, given by equation(7.25), which

defines the ratio
for the downlink (
can be calculated as
)
The uplink noise retransmitted by the satellite
Hence
)
Where
is the total power gain between the satellite receiver input and the earth station
receiver input. G takes into account the satellite repeater gain
from the input to the satellite receiver to the

output of the satellite channel amplifier, the gain
of the satellite transmit antenna including the gain

fallout and the loss
from the output of the power amplifier to the transmit antenna, the downlink path loss
and the receiving station composite gain
. This gives
(

In the above expression, the term
represents the carrier power at the satellite receiver input.

Hence,
, finally (

In this expression;
(
) (
) (
and(
are the values of
for the uplink and downlink when the satellite channel operates
at saturation.

, represents the downlink attenuation and (
, the figure of merit of the earth station in the

satellite direction.

December 15,
2012

70

7.10.8 EXPRESSION FOR (
TAKING ACCOUNT OF INTERFERENCE AND

INTERMODULATION

Intermodulation and interference where explained in chapter four. Taking both effects into account gives,
(

CHAPTER 8 OPTIMIZATION
In chapter four the different types of noise that affect a communications link were treated while in
chapter five the atmospheric impairments on a communication link were discussed. Chapter 6 presented
the different modulation techniques used to transmit information in satellite communications link and
how this techniques together with channel coding help improve the performance of a satellite
communications link. Chapter 7 presented means of evaluating satellite communications link
performance.
This chapter focuses on the various means of optimizing the performance of a fixed satellite link. Some of
them can be applied to mobile satellite links but focus will be on fixed end- to-end link.
By optimization we mean providing network with improve reliability and high capacity service. There are
basically two groups of techniques; Power restoral techniques and Signal modification techniques.
Most of these techniques play on the link margin to ensure availability of service.
Before looking at these techniques, it is important to dwell a little on link margin.
8.1 LINK MARGIN
All satellite links are design to function at a certain annual availability. The closer to 100% demanded a
link availability, the more link margin is needed to meet this demand.
Design specifies a value of
greater or equal to (
during a given percent of time, equal

to (100-p%). For example, 99.99% of time implies p=0.01%. As seen in chapter 7, the attenuation
due to rain causes a reduction of the ratio
given by
(
for uplink and

(
) for the downlink



(
) (
Represents a reduction (in dB) of the figure of merit due to

increase of noise temperature
For a successful design (system), one must have a (

This can be achieve by including a margin in the clear sky link budget with defined as
(

8.2 POWER RESTORAL TECHNIQUES
These techniques optimize the link without touching the basic signal format. They include;
Beam diversity
Power control
Site diversity

8.2.1 BEAM DIVERSITY
The receive power density on the satellite downlink can be increased during path attenuation by switching to a
satellite antenna with a narrower beamwidth. The narrower beamwidth correspond to a higher antenna gain,
concentrating the power onto a smaller area on the earth surface, resulting in higher EIRP at the ground terminal
undergoing the path attenuation. This is shown in
figure (8.1) below

December 15,
2012

72

The increase in EIRP can be very significant as displayed in figure (8.2).
For example the use of the metropolitan spot beam antenna in place of CONUS antenna will provide 24.1dB of
additional EIRP.

8.3 POWER CONTROL
The objective of power control is to vary the transmit power in direct proportion to the attenuation on the link, so
that the received power stays constant during severe fade. We can have uplink power control and downlink power
control.
8.3.1 UPLINK POWER CONTROL
Provides a direct means of restoring the uplink signal during rain attenuation events. Two types of power control
can be implemented, closed loop and open loop power control systems
8.3.1.1 CLOSED LOOP
In a closed loop system, the transmit power level is adjusted directly as the detected received signal level at the
satellite, returned via a telemetry link back to the ground, varies with time. Control ranges of up to 20dB are


possible and response time can be nearly continuous if the telemetered received signal level is available on a
continuous basis. This is shown below in figure 8.3a.

8.3.1.2 OPEN LOOP
In an open loop power control system, the transmit power level is adjusted by
operation on a radio frequency control signal that itself undergoes path
attenuation and is used to infer the attenuation experience on the uplink. This
control signal is called Beacon and is sometimes at the same frequency as the
uplink. The system is shown in figure 8.3b
8.4 SITE DIVERSITY
It describes the use of geographically separate ground terminals in a space
communication link to overcome the effect of downlink path attenuation during
December 15,
2012

74

intense rain period. It improves overall link performance by taking advantage of the limited size and extent of
intense rain cells. This is shown in figure (8.4)
8.5 SIGNAL MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES
This involves optimization techniques in which the basic format of the signal is modified.
Space segment costs are typically the most significant operating expense for any satellite-based service, having
direct impact on the viability and profitability of the service. A satellite transponder having finite resources in terms
of bandwidth and power, the transponder leasing costs are determined by bandwidth and power used. For optimal
utilization, a satellite circuit should be designed to use similar shares of transponder bandwidth and transponder
power.
The traditional approach to balancing a satellite circuit involves trade-off between modulation and coding. A lower
order modulation requires less transponder power at the expense of more bandwidth. Conversely a higher order
modulation reduces required bandwidth, but at a significant increase in power.
Some of the new dimension optimization techniques of satellite communications are; DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier
(CnC), Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM)
8.5.1 OPTIMIZATION BY DOUBLETALK CARRIER-IN-CARRIER
This innovative technology provides a significant improvement in bandwidth and power utilization beyond what is
possible with traditional forward error correction (FEC) and modulation alone, allowing users to achieve
unprecedented savings. When combined with advanced modulation and FEC, it allows for multi-dimensional
optimization
o Reducing Operational Expenses(OPEX)
Occupied bandwidth and transponder power
o Reducing Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)
BUC/HPA/ size and antenna size
o Increasing throughput without using additional transponder resources
o Increasing link availability (margin) without using additional transponder resources
o Or a combination to meet different objectives
DoubleTalk Carrier-in-carrier bandwidth compression is based on patented Adaptive Cancellation technology that
allows transmit and receive carriers of a duplex link to share the same transponder space. Figure 8.5a shows a
typical full duplex satellite link, where the two carriers are adjacent to each other. Figure 8.5b shows the
DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier where the two carriers are overlapping, thus sharing the same spectrum.



DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier is complementary to all advancement in technology, including advanced FEC and
modulation techniques. As these technologies approach theoretical limits of power and bandwidth efficiencies,
DoubleTalk carrier- in-carrier utilizing advanced signal processing techniques provides a new dimension in
bandwidth and power efficiency.
DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier allow users to achieve spectral efficiency (bps/Hz) that cannot be achieved with
modulation and FEC alone, example when used with 16-QAM, it approaches the bandwidth efficiency of 256-QAM
(8bps/Hz).
As DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier allows equivalent spectral efficiency using a lower order modulation and/or FEC
code, it can simultaneously reduce CAPEX by allowing the use of a smaller BUC/HPA and/or antenna
As DoubleTalk carrier-in-
carrier can be used to save
transponder bandwidth
and/or transponder power, it
has been successfully
deployed in bandwidth-
limited as well as power-
limited scenarios.

December 15,
2012

76

8.5.6 DOUBLE TALK CARRIER-IN-CARRIER CANCELLATION PROCESS
In traditional full duplex satellite connection between two sites, separate satellite channels are allocated to each
direction. If both directions transmitted on the same channel, each side would normally find it impossible to extract
the desired signal from the aggregate, due to interference resulting from its local oscillator. However since this
interference is produced locally, it is possible to estimate and remove its influence prior to demodulation of the
data transmitted from the remote location.
DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier achieves state-of-art performance by combining the latest signal processing
technology. It continually estimates and tracks all parameter difference between the local uplink signal and its
image within the downlink signal. Through advanced adaptive filtering and phase locked loop implementation, it
dynamically compensates for this difference by appropriately adjusting the delay, frequency, phase and amplitude
of the sampled uplink signal. The result is excellent cancellation performance.
For the Double Talk carrier-in-carrier it is necessary to provide each demodulator with a copy of its local modulator
output. Figure 8.7 shows the actual movement of signals in this network.

The interference cancellation algorithm uses the composite signal and local copy of S
1
to estimate the necessary
parameters of scaling, delay offset and frequency offset.
DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier can only be used for full duplex link where the transmitting earth station is able to
receive itself. Maximum savings is generally achieved when the original link is symmetric in data rate.


8.6 ADAPTIVE CODING AND MODULATION (ACM)
Adaptive coding and modulation is a statistical, non-static advantage that enables dynamic changes in
user throughput. Benefit and value vary over time and are not guaranteed, but are predictable.
ACM turns fade margin into increased link capacity- gains of 100% or more are possible,
compared to traditional constant coding and modulation (CCM). This is accomplished by
automatically adapting the modulation type and FEC code rate to give highest possible
throughput.
ACM maximizes throughput regardless of Link conditions (noise or other impairments, clear sky,
rain fade, etc.). Initial setup is easy, and then requires no further human intervention.
With a CCM system, severe rain fading can cause the total loss of the link, and zero throughput.
ACM keeps the Link up(with lower throughput) and can yield much higher system availability
It is currently used for IP traffic only.
All satellite links are design to function at a certain annual availability. The closer to 100% we demand of
our link availability, the more link margin we need to meet this demand. Figure 8.8a below is a graph of
availability vs. link margin of a Ku-Band link from Germany to Nigeria. A change in guaranteed annual
availability from 99.8% to 99.6% (as little as 0.2% per year) equates to 17.5 hours per
year(365Days*24Hours/day*0.02=17.5Hours).
In this link, it can be seen that this 17.5hours/year demands or saves 2.5dB of link margin. This means that
someone who requires 99.8% availability instead of 99.6% would need an additional 2.5dB link margin for the
entire year. Conversely, deciding to run this link with 99.6% would save 2.5dB of link margin for the entire year.

December 15,
2012

78

Different links have different link margin requirements. Consider the C-Band link between Italy and China with
different link availability characteristics. Figure 8b. Shows that the same change from 99.6% availability to 99.8%
availability requires a mere 0.35dB of additional link margin.

Because ACM converts link margin into additional user throughput, it can be clearly seen that the greater the link
margin, the greater the benefit of ACM. As link margin is reduced, so too is ACM. I t can also be stated that as
guaranteed availability is increased, link margin will also need to be increased. Conversely as the guaranteed
availability is reduced, link margin will also need to be reduced and the value of ACM will therefore be reduced.
8.6.1 ACM BACKGROUND
The primary function of ACM is to optimize throughput in a wireless data link, by adapting the modulation order
used and the forward error correction(FEC) code rate(which both directly affects spectral efficiency), according to
the noise conditions (or other impairments) on the link.
The implicit in this concept is that the symbol rate (and power) of the wireless communication system must remain
constant. This ensures that the bandwidth allocated for a particular link is never exceeded. Given that the symbol
rate does not change, if modulation and coding are changed, the data rate must therefore be modified.
This is expressed in the simple equation: symbol rate = bit rate/(modulation order*code rate)


Rearranging we have; bit rate = symbol rate*modulation order*code rate
Therefore in changing to a higher order modulation or code rate, the bit rate is increased, and in changing to a
lower order modulation or code rate, the bit rate is reduced.
8.6.2 REQUIREMENTS FOR ACM
a. A modulator and FEC encoder that can instantaneously, when commanded, change either modulation type
(order) or FEC encoder rate, or both. This need to be accomplished without the corruption of data
anywhere in the path. Block FEC codes are considered to be the most practical in achieving the required
synchronization. Recently, a specific nomenclature has emerged to describe a combination of modulation
type and code rate-namely, ModCod. The modulator is required to send the value of the ModCod at the
start of each code block to signal to the demodulator/decoder how to configure the correct modulation
type and FEC code rate.
b. A receiver that is capable of demodulating and decoding the signal transmitted by a) without any prior
knowledge of when a change has taken place, but based purely on the value of the ModCod seen at the
start of each FEC block. Again this need to be accomplished without the corruption of data anywhere in
the path.
c. The receiver in b) needs to derive an estimation of the link quality (in terms of
, , etc.) and then

communicates this estimate, via a return channel, to the modulator in a)
d. The modulator in a) need to be able to process the link metric from the demodulator in b), and then,
based upon a predetermined algorithm, adapt the data rate and change the ModCod sent to the receiver
at the distant end. Thus,
the data rate on the link
can be maximized, given
the current link noise
conditions
A generic example of ACM
over satellite is shown in
figure 8.9a and 8.9b below.

December 15,
2012

80

9.0 GENERAL CONCLUSI ON
Satellite communications as we have seen is highly affected by propagation impairments at the
atmosphere, non-linearity of the satellite channel, thermal noise and interference. The traditional way
of overcoming these effects is by increasing the link margin during fade conditions.
The Power restoral technique on the other hand maintains the link in presence of fade conditions by
increasing the
, to the required value. Some of these techniques can be costly in CAPEX; installing a
new site (site diversity), multiple antennas onboard the satellite (beam diversity) for example.
Advances in modulation, coding gain, fade adaptation and carrier cancelling technologies can provide
substantial saving in bandwidth, improve capacity, improve reliability, or all three while maintaining
contracted service level agreements (SLAs). These can be realized using DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier and
Adaptive coding and modulation.
The second technology; Adaptive Coding and Modulation help to maintain a link in all conditions and
greatly increase throughput in clear sky conditions.
I will recommend Adaptive Coding and Modulation for an Asymmetric Network in which there is an
unequal flow of data from one direction to another (Packet Switched Network).


In symmetric networks with equal amount of data in both directions, DoubleTalk Carrier-in-carrier is
recommended.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
Gerard Maral and Michel Bosquet; Satellite communications systems, 5
th
edition, A John Wiley and sons, Ltd,
publication, 2009
Louis J. Ippolito, Jr. Satellite communications systems engineering, 1
st
edition, , A John Wiley and sons, Ltd,
publication, 2008
http://www.comtechefdata.com/technologies/doubletalk
http://www.newtec.eu/

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Rpublique du Cameroun Republic of Cameroon

Paix- Travail Patrie Peace- Work- Fatherland

Where e=eccentricity of the orbit;

is said to be in a polar orbit.

< 90. A satellite in a

from the earth station to the satellite in degrees

, is converted into an intermediate lower frequency,

, for transmission to earth. Frequency translation

. The baseband signal is then available

, possibly in a different modulation format to the uplink and

errors. Here [x] represents the largest integer

is equal to the decoding gain.

, which translates to an equal reduction in the required carrier power, is paid

is higher, as a result in reduction in the information rate. This

and is the velocity of light

and frequency of the electromagnetic

, where is the antenna efficiency. Therefore

by a coefficient. The coefficient

and is valid only when

=energy of signal B, found in A due to depolarization

=energy of signal A, found in B due to depolarization

)(when a single polarization is

, any antenna radiates a power per unit solid angle

is called the EIRP

is called the power flux density expressed in

located at a distance R from the

according to equation (7.2)

, is due to the presence of gaseous components in the

in equation (7.9) by the Path Loss, L, where

at the output of the transmission amplifier such that;

, such that it will be equal to

. They are evaluated using equation (7.6);

(in dB) is . In a case where a circularly polarized

will have a value of 3dB. Considering all sources of loss,

between the transmit amplifier and the antenna. Reduction in gain L

between the antenna and the receiver, L

,due to polarization mismatch.

. The noise power

. The noise figure is thus

which is generally the ambient temperature. If

the overall effective input noise temperature is

of the receiver can be express as

of the receiver to that of the LNA,

. Two cases are considered

, which corresponds to a gain

and is less than 1.

, adding the contribution of the antenna, this

; thermodynamic temperature of the feeder

. Using equation (7.25)

=149.3K or around 150K.

, where k is the Boltzmann constant

is the noise bandwidth

, where T is given by equation (7.25)

Can also be express as a function of the power flux density ;

is independent of the point chosen in the receiving chain as

and the effective input noise temperature

(typical value at this frequency for elevation angle 10)

. It is therefore needlessly costly to install a receiver with a low

for the uplink;

(typical attenuation at this frequency for an elevation of

, since the station is at the edge,

is the downlink system noise temperature at the input given by

Such an attenuation would not be exceeded, at a